David Sime obit

David Sime, Olympian and doctor, dies at 79

 

He was not on the list.

His patients primarily knew him as Dr. David Sime, a renowned Miami ophthalmologist who was a pioneer in laser surgery and treated Richard Nixon, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Don Shula and Bob Griese. But Sime was making headlines long before he became a doctor. He was the holder of nine world track records, was dubbed “one of the fastest humans of all-time” and appeared on the cover of a July 1956 Sports Illustrated with the caption “Superman in Spikes.” He won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Rome Olympics while attending Duke University Medical School. Sime died Tuesday at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach after a long battle with cancer. He was 79. “Dr. David Sime — a great friend of mine who I will miss dearly. #fastestmanonearth #myfriend #rip’’ Shula posted on Twitter on Thursday. Sime (rhymes with rim), a New Jersey native who spent most of his life in Miami, excelled in many sports. He was a champion broad jumper and discus thrower, the 1950 Silver Skates Derby Junior Novice Champion, a basketball star, the 1958 Atlantic Coast Conference javelin throwing champion, and a football player and All-American center fielder at Duke.

He turned down many Major League Baseball offers and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1959 but never played in the NFL. He was inducted into the USA Track & Field New Jersey and North Carolina Sports Halls of Fame, and in 2010 Duke named him the school’s “Most Outstanding Athlete of the 20th Century.’’

Sime remained active into his later years, dabbling in tennis, inline skating, cycling, wind surfing, helicopter skiing, flying, shooting, sailing, body surfing and kayaking. He leaves his wife of 17 years, Ileana Sime, and her children Silvio, Raquel and grandchild Madison Estrella. He also leaves ex-wife Betty, eldest daughter Sherrie and her husband, Rick Giusto, their children Ali, Jenna and Chris; his son Scott Sime and his wife, Belinda, and their daughter Amber; his youngest daughter Lisa and her husband, former NFL player Ed McCaffrey, and their four sons Max, Christian (the 2015 Heisman Trophy runner-up from Stanford), Dylan and Luke; and many close friends.

Sime was born on July 25, 1936, in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Evelyn and Charles Sime, neither of whom graduated from high school. He grew up in Fair Lawn and played football and baseball at Fair Lawn High School, but did not run track. He was a charter member of the Fair Lawn High School Athletics Hall of Fame.

Sime applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point, as his dream was to become a pilot, but discovered he was color blind and accepted a baseball scholarship to Duke University in North Carolina.

Sime was a member of Duke's baseball and track and field teams, and played football for a season in 1958, while a first-year medical school student. His beginnings in track were accidental: his 100-yard dash on an unmowed grass surface in baseball shoes was a rapid 9.8 seconds, and the coaches soon asked him to join the track team. Opting not to play freshman football, he had gone out for fall track to stay in shape for baseball. Sime hit over .400 as a freshman and had the intention continuing in baseball for coach Ace Parker, but his success during winter track changed that. Parker was a former multi-sport athlete and recognized the exceptional speed and Olympic potential; Sime focused on track in 1956, then split time between both sports in 1957.

Sime achieved his greatest collegiate victory as a 19-year-old sophomore at the Drake Relays in April 1956, where he was named the meet's outstanding performer after setting a meet record in the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds; he handed Bobby Morrow of Abilene Christian his first loss in over thirty races in the 100, and was inducted into the Drake Relays Athlete Hall of Fame in 1959. Sime was named the ACC Athlete of the Year in 1956 for his accomplishments in track and baseball. Prior to the Olympic trials, he and Morrow appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1956.

Sime was unable to make the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne due to a leg injury in his first attempt to ride a horse, but he competed in Rome four years later and won a silver medal when he was edged out by Armin Hary of Germany in a photo finish in the 100 meters.

He anchored the U.S. to an apparent victory in the 4 × 100 m relay. The team finished first in a world record time of 39.4 s but was disqualified because at the first exchange from Budd to Norton, Norton started too early and the exchange happened outside the changeover box. During his career, he held world records at 100 yards, 220 yards, and the 220 yd low hurdles.

During the Rome Olympics, Sime worked with the CIA trying to entice Soviet long-jumper Igor Ter-Ovanesyan to defect; the attempt failed.