Cornell University Athletics

An outstanding track athlete, he held the Cornell record for the 200-meter dash that stood for 40 years.  In 1933 and 1934, he was runner-up in that event at the IC4A championships.  In his senior year, he ran on winning 440- and 880-yard relay teams at the Penn Relays.  As a representative of the New York Athletic Club, he was a member of the national AAU relay champions on 440, 880 and mile relay teams in 1933, 1934 and 1935.  While touring Europe with a select group of American stars in 1924, he set the European record for the 300-meter dash.  Kane was an athletic administrator with the university for 36 years until his retirement in 1976.  He served as assistant director under James Lynah for three years (1939-41) and as acting director from 1941 through 1944, when he was named director.  Through his last five years, he was promoted to dean of the department of athletics and physical education and served as assistant to the president of the university.  During his tenure at Cornell, the Big Red won national championships in hockey, lacrosse, rowing and polo, and Ivy League championships in football, basketball, hockey, lacrosse, gymnastics, soccer, fencing, track, tennis, and wrestling.  While he was director, new athletic facilities costing $9 million were built.  Kane was closely associated with the U.S. Olympic Committee, beginning in 1951 when he was elected to its board of directors.  After serving in various capacities with the USOC, he was elected president for a four-year term in April 1977 and led the USOC through a period of great growth, only to be bitterly disappointed by the boycott of the Moscow Games in 1980 by the United States at the request of President Jimmy Carter.  Kane created the idea of the U.S. Olympic Festival (originally called the National Sports Festival) and put it into motion in 1978 at Colorado Springs, Colo.  He was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1986.