Delusional or deceptive? Chris Mitchell-Horton’s crazy goals
Chris Mitchell-Horton of Napa, California, has modest goals: compete in the 2010 Vancouver and 2012 London Olympics. Become the first person to claim gold at 400, 800 and 1500 in the same Games. And “set the world and Olympic records at 400 meters . . . set the world and Olympic records at 800 meters . . . set the world and Olympic records at 1500 meters.” And all while staving off age. He turns 40 next month. Yeah, just another delusional dreamer? Well, in March 2007, when he first popped up, I noted his Olympic Trials ambitions and promptly forgot about him. Now he’s back, and this time he deserves a little more scrutiny.
Chris Mitchell-Horton’s Web site went online as early as August 2007.
It’s no crime to dream big, but when he starts soliciting donations on the basis of impossible claims, he’s asking for trouble. Check out his Web site.
Among other howlers, he says he sleeps only three hours a night and has PRs of 10.1 in the 100, sub-20 for 200, sub-45 for 400 and sub-1:46 for the half. And where did he set these amazing sprint marks? He wrote me (and I won’t fix his spelling): “Shereve Port, LA in 1992 and my best 400 meter race was run in Medina, OH in 1996.”
Chris also takes the long view — setting Olympic goals for when he’s 46!
Of course, none of the trackgeeks at Track & Field News have heard of him. And when I queried folks at the message board, I ignited a wisecrack competition.
One posted some true facts, however. Chris entered a San Francisco meet in April 2008, submitting seed times of 4:45 in the 1500 and 24.0 in the deuce. Meet results say he didn’t run.
I decided to write Chris anyway.
Responding to my first note, in which I asked for an interview, he wrote:
Thanks for visiting my website. I’m currently participating in Bobsledding and will not be participating in any track and field competitions until the summer of 2010. If there is anything I can answer for you please do not hesitate to send me an email.
But the masters mole who alerted me to Chris’ Web site did some snooping on his own. My mole wrote to folks at the United States Olympic Committee.
He got this note back from Darrin Steele of the U.S. Bobsledding and Skeleton Federation:
We have many athletes who compete at various levels, so it is possible he has been competing at some level although I am not familiar with him. He is not at this point in consideration for the 2010 Olympic bobsled team for the United States.
OK, he’s mainly a trackman. So I shot him a few questions:
Masterstrack.com: Do you really get by on three hours’ sleep a night?
Chris Horton-Mitchell: I average three to four hours Monday thru Thursday. I average five hours Friday thru Sunday.
Exactly where and when did you run your best times in the 100, 200 and 400?
I ran my best 100 and 200 meter races in Shereve Port, LA in 1992 and my best 400 meter race was run in Medina, OH in 1996.
What is your date of birth?
01/10/1970 is my date of birth.
What school or college did you compete for, if any?
I have run unattached since HS.
Would you consider entering any masters track meets (adult age-group competitions usually sponsored by USATF)?
Yes.
Are you interested at all in the world masters championships in Sacramento in 2011?
Yes.
Tell me about your family — wife, kids, cats, dogs?
I’m pretty private about my family. I have a 13 year old bonus daughter from her mom’s previous partner. I have a 7 year old daughter, a 6 year old son and 6 month old daughter. We did not have pets in the projects on Galveston Island and I’m to busy to learn today how to care for one. I work for a bank as a mortgage consultant.
How do you respond to critics, such as those who post messages on the Track & Field News message board.
If a message has validity and merit I would respond as any Christian would, with an open mind to hear what a critic would have to say. There may be something for me to learn that my give insight to how I can improve my performance on the track.
Well, at least he’s open to suggestions!
But I’m more concerned about suggestible donors, and he’s found a few. Back in 2008, he apparently benefited from a fund-raiser for his 2008 Eugene Olympic Trials dreams.
First he put out this flier, which said in part:
You are cordially invited to Chardonnay Golf Club to enjoy the Super Bowl Sunday festivities. The proceeds of this event will help Olympic Athlete Chris Horton raise funds to fulfill his “dream”of making the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team, as well as provide financial support to the Portia Bell Hume Behavioral Health and Training Center in its mission to provide mental health services to diverse and underserved communities.
And then he showed up at this affluent place and even got a write-up, and posed with some Oakland Raiders cheerleaders to boot.
Bottom line: Chris needs help all right. The professional kind.
24 Responses
To sleep three ours a night? Why not? And how many times and hours during the day (like Thomas Alva Edison and Leonardo da Vinci and Buckminster Fuller)?
And I want to be a fireman when I grow up.
This guy said he grew up in Galveston I have never heard of him and I grew up in Houston.
10.18 1986 Derrick Florence, Galveston Ball………… 10.29 1987 Aundre Reese, Galveston
No mention of Chris Mitchell-Horton
I love a guy with big dreams.
This guy is such an obvious fraud. Easy to fool the general public that knows nothing about our sport. Hey, I just threw 42.74m in the jav this year at 43yrs old (legit)…I think I’ll announce that I’ve been selected to compete in the 2012 OT’s. No problems making that 30m jump between now and then 🙂
This guy is a user.
Some of those facts are easy to verify. But the al time world lists do not contain anything.
The phrase about the professional help is right. I know a boy who heard that I was doing athletics and he was very glad in telling me which races he had done. But he never was in the results and he mentioned such fast racing times he would have been in the newspapers because of being number 1 or 2 of the country…
And every now and then someone walks into the track and says ‘I’ve jumped 7.11m three years ago but got injured. Now I like to go to the world’s next year.’ Or ‘I am dreaming of the shot put in the next Olympics, just over three years. I’ve hit 11m already.’ All exemples were serious just like I cite them.
Very strange. They need help.
In 2003 he ran 11.52 on 100m and 2:15.0 on 800m. Way to go.
The U.S. bobsled team was picked a long time ago so unless he becomes a citizen of some undeveloped country, he has missed his first goal…As far as his others? He has a better chance of making the parachuteless plane jumping team than he does of running any respectable times. Come to think of it…maybe he will try out for the plane jumping team! Then at least he won’t be around conning innocent people out of their money.
Wait…didn’t he produce Thriller for Michael Jackson too? LOL!! Okay let me stop playin and get back to work.
the human mind is boggling…when i was a kid about ten or so i was routinely challenged by kids who knew ” somebody that ran the 100 yd dash in 9.6 , …really… ” who was i to doubt them ? there would be a match race arranged from telephone pole to the third pole ( about 100 yds ) and neighborhood kids would line up and cheer…sometimes the challenger was from a different neighborhood. we’ed race and when i won i thought ” i know he didn’t run 9.6…cause if he did…i ran 9 flat…and i can’t run that fast…” when i got into highschool, my younger brothers would take bets to have their fastest friends race me about 60 yds…i ran over 4 39″ hurdles.they ran unobstructed… i gave them a reality check…in college, over 42’s….. it’s funny…just the other night at a christmas get together, some people i grew up with brought up that very story. i’ve always maintained the mirror qualities of track and field. the proof is in the pudding. the world is full of people with different views. some have distorted views of themselves…. some have distorted views of others. most of the people that i’ve come in contact with, through this sport, have pedigrees of some form or another…documentation…a part of the record of life…they’re called MEET RESULTS . i applaud any person with lofty goals and wish them the best. i’m not the kind to wish failure upon anyone…needless to say, i’m anxious to read all about chris mitchell horton’s race results…but if there aren’t any then he should be banned from the sport for cheating …himself and his friends
If I were Chris Mitchell-Horton, or Christopher Leonard Horton that is listed as his given name on all public people searches on-line, I would be pretty private about my family as well after making all these claims as an Olympic caliber athlete. To be considered in my book as an Olympic caliber athlete, one has to at least competed at a USA Olympic trials and been in the mix of top 4 finishers. He has done no such thing. Of course he’s gone to no University or College after H.S. to compete because to his credit he worked his way to becoming a World class athletic on his own at the beaches of Galveston Island or where ever else he trained. Mr. Horton has a photo of the table at the Super Bowl function for donations to his cause with medals that he says he earned with just a 5″ by 8″ photo in the center of him running against nobody. At least have a press photo of one of your blazing finishes against Maurice Green or Michael Johnson or anyone Olympic or even NCAA Nationals caliber. How a few newspaper clippings as well or a photo on the medal stand at one of his International, USA, or even college meets entered as an open athlete. He does have a relative listed on public on-line people searches that could be a Brother, Cousin or Uncle, Freddie Lee Horton, who on a Google search showed he was a police officer in Galveston as of July, 2009, that may be able to verify Christopher’s Story. I really want to believe the story that Mr. Horton has given to the public personally and on his web-site, because if not true, I can’t say on-line what I’d feel inside. It would make for a made-for-TV movie if all of this is true about Mr. Horton’s personal life as a child and what a success he become as an adult and athlete. You’d think He would have gone that angle already for a book or movie. Read this section written on Mr. Horton’s web-site if you think I’m kidding, http://www.chrishortononline.com/run.html
Ken, I remember a few years ago you had a blog post about a fitness competitor/body builder named Amy Haddad, and how she wanted to win national titles in the 100 meters and the high jump. She was an accomplished athlete in her area of specialty, but it definitely wasn’t track and field. I don’t believe Amy had much success with her goals. People like Amy and Chris, with their lofty goals and clueless claims are minimalizing the hard work that it takes to have success in our sport. I wish them success, but sadly they’ll find that their bold predictions will be dashed by hard reality.
He’s wanted to be an Olympian since 1976, when supposedly his father died in an accident that Chris was partially responsible for, but only now he wants to do something about it. So he had a dream of making the 2008 Olympics? Gosh, how did that turn out?
His fund raiser also was to provide mental health services to the underserved. Maybe he’s counting himself in that population.
You can fool some of the people some of the time or yourself a lot of the time.
It sure sounds like he is trying to con people for attention & money. Why waste any more time on him?
Because some innocent do-gooder will believe in this man and may possibley be hurt financially by him. Not everyone looks into the background of people. Some just believe in someone’s word and it’s good enough for them. I wonder if Mr. Horton went to the African-American community as well to ask for his financial donations. I think Mr. Horton has found out that white guilt works quite well in funding issues for minorities feel-good issues.
its sad and he needs some help.In track i remember guys like that in hs,talking about their times, and i would say something like”i am not nearly that fast, but i bet i can beat u, show up at the all comers meet on Wed night so we can find out”.
They always had an excuse. Some guys kept up the charade for years it was so sad. I have also witnessed guys go off the deep end in other walks of life, without getting into details, a guy who when i worked with him seemed ok, later stole my resume used my credentials, and fooled a few people
when he was confronted he still insisted he was me unfortunately for him the person confronting him had been my boss for a decade. But the guy had become so mentally ill it was questionable whether he thought he was lying or actually believed he was me.
Mr Horton could just be scamming people for a little fame & money or he could be truly ill.
I don’t think we should make fun of someone who could be really sick. Sorry if this is a downer but someone should contact a mental health professional on behalf of this man. He needs help not ridicule
Maybe he can do this on his PlayStaion.
This is absolutely sad and this guy is a disgrace to our sport. I pray no one gives him any money. Maybe he’ll show up and compete like a real athlete at one of the Masters venue’s.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz……his 15 minutes are now up!!!
Please no more posts.
“A person’s life is dyed with the color of his imagination.”
— Marcus Aurelius Antonius
“There’s a sucker born every minute.”
— from the movie, “Paper Moon”
He reminds me of Henry Rono, although Henry was a legitimate hard core Olympic athlete. I thought Henry held rather lofty notions for believing he could set the age-group record in the mile but nonetheless would have liked to see him achieve.
This guy is delusional. He’d have to absolutely obliterate his PRs, and as a masters to boot! Great to see him try but come on. And do it on your own dime.
I witnessed him speak recently. He made claims of being a gold medalist in the 4 x 400 relay in ’92 Olympics and a member of the #3 sled for USA bobsled team. I can’t seem to verify any of this. Hmmmm?
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