Horace Ashenfelter was born on January 23, 1923 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, USA. He was married to Lilian Wright. He died on January 6, 2018 in West Orange, New Jersey, USA.
Remarkable for his versatility, having captured 17 national titles in events as varied as two-mile and cross-country, with both indoor and outdoor titles.
Inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame (1975).
His most notable achievement was his unexpected victory over Vladimir Kazantsev in the Olympic steeplechase. At the time of his Olympic victory, Ashenfelter was an FBI agent. This race won him the Sullivan Award as outstanding amateur athlete of 1952.
Served as an Army Air Corps fighter pilot during World War II.
He said that his work at the FBI mainly consisted of doing background checks for federal job applicants, including looking for communist affiliations.