Former Olympian found dead at Louisiana paper-plant

Jet, Dec 1, 1997

Rodney Milburn, 47, who won a gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, was found dead in a liquid-chemical tank at a Georgia Pacific paper plant in Port Hudson, LA.

Patty Prats-Swanson, a spokeswoman for Georgia Pacific, told the New York Times that Milburn had been assigned to unload the nontoxic liquid sodium chlorate, a chemical used in the bleaching process of paper manufacturing. She said Milburn was found by a supervisor submerged in a solution containing a crystallized chemical dissolved in very hot water.

Lt. Lee Rice of the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Department said Milburn had sustained burns to his external body and burn damage to his lungs.

"It appears that the inhalation damage and burns were caused by falling in," he told the Times. "No one was with him. There's no indication of foul play."

Milburn, born May 18, 1950, in Opelousas, LA, attracted national attention as a hurdler at J.S. Clark High School in Opelousas and was a star at Southern University in Baton Rouge.

In 1971, Milburn was unbeaten in 28 races, including 15 finals, and he won NCAA, AAU and NAIA titles. In the AAU national championships, he ran a 13.0, 120-yard high hurdles in the semifinals, breaking the 13year-old world record by two tenths of a second, and he was voted athlete of the year by Track & Field News.

He won the 110 meters at Munich in an Olympic-record 13.24 seconds, equaling the world record.

Milburn retired as a professional in 1983 and was later track coach at Southern University.

He is survived by his wife and three children.