- Thane Baker, a native of Elkhart, Kansas, injured at the age of 14 and told by doctors to give up athletics, yet, with a piece of steel remaining in his leg, overcame an injury which has caused his left leg to be short than his right.
- As a Kansas State University student and graduate he set several individual world records and relay team world records.
- He is the only athlete ever to win the Big Six and Bif Seven 100 dash and 200 dash titles three years running.
- He has the distinction of scoring more points in NCAA competition than any other athlete in KSU history.
- Between the years of 1951-56 he held six world records in distances from 60 yards to 300 yards.
- In 1952 he captured the silver medal in the 200 meters during the Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland with a tiem of 20.8.
- In 1956, in Melbourne, Australia, he won the gold medal as a member (captain of the 400 meter relay team; the silver medal in the 100 meters with a time of 10.5; and the bronze medal in the 200 meters with a time of 20.9.
- In 1972 he won a silver medal in the 200 meters in Helsinki at a masters exhibition.
- In 1975 he was selected to the Kansas All-Sports Hall of Fame.
- In 1977 he was selected to the Kansas State High School Activities Hall of Fame.
- In 1982 he set world age-division records of 11.3 in the 100 meters and 23.4 in the 200 meters.
- In 1983 he won the M50 Championship in the 100 meters and 200 meters.
- In 1983 he won the 100 meters and the 200 meters in the World Championships held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- In 1984 he set a new Masters world record in the 100 meters with a time of 11.3.
- He is one of only seven track and field athletes to collect a full set of medals in one Olympics and is the only person to have done so since 1920.
Taken from State of Kansas Proclamation
by the Governor of Kansas
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