{{Short description|US international rugby union player}} {{Infobox rugby biography | name = Colby Slater | image = File:Colby Slater 1924.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Slater in 1924 | birth_name = | fullname = Colby Edmund Slater | birth_date = {{birth date|1896|04|30}} | birth_place = Berkeley, California | death_date = {{death date and age|1965|01|30|1896|04|30}} | death_place = Clarksburg, California | height = | weight = | school = | university = UC Davis | ru_position = Second row | amatyears1 = | amatteam1 = | ru_amupdate = | repteam1 = United States | repyears1 = 1920–1924 | repcaps1 = 2 | reppoints1 = 0 | ru_ntupdate = December 19, 2018 }} {{MedalTableTop}} {{MedalSport|Men's rugby union}} {{MedalCountry|the {{USA}}}} {{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games}} {{MedalGold|1920 Antwerp | Team competition}} {{MedalGold|1924 Paris | Team competition}} {{MedalBottom}}
'''Colby Edmund "Babe" Slater''' (April 30, 1896 – January 30, 1965) was an American rugby union player who captained the United States national rugby union team that won the gold medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the American rugby union team, which won the gold medal in 1920 and 1924.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/18255 |title=Colby Slater |work=Olympedia |access-date=29 August 2021}}</ref>
==Biography== Colby Slater was born on April 30, 1896, in Berkeley, California,<ref name=ESPNProfile>{{cite web |url=http://en.espn.co.uk/scrum/rugby/player/2718.html |title=Colby Slater |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=espn.co.uk |publisher=ESPN |access-date=December 19, 2018}}</ref> the son and youngest of four children of John Slater and Louise Slater (born Chenery<ref name=RHSProfile>{{cite web |url=http://therugbyhistorysociety.co.uk/cslater.html |title=Colby Slater |last=Casey |first=Patrick |date=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=The Rugby History Society |access-date=December 21, 2018}}</ref>).<ref name=UCD>{{cite web |url=https://slater.library.ucdavis.edu/index.php/colby-babe-slater/ |title=Colby E. "Babe" Slater |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Peter J. Shields Library at the University of California, Davis |access-date=December 21, 2018 |archive-date=April 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406034758/https://slater.library.ucdavis.edu/index.php/colby-babe-slater/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> With his older brother, Norman, Slater attended Berkeley High School and played for the school's rugby team in 1912 and 1913, winning a state championship in 1912.<ref name=RHSProfile /><ref name=UCD /> In 1914, Slater enrolled at the University Farm School in Davis, California.<ref name=UCD /> (The University Farm School was then a branch of the College of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley and is considered a precursor to the University of California, Davis, which claims him as an alumnus.<ref name=UCD />) Slater graduated from the University Farm School in May 1917, and enlisted in the United States Army shortly thereafter.<ref name=UCD /> He served with the Medical Corps in France during World War I.<ref name=UCD /> In 1919, Slater returned to California and began his career as a farmer.<ref name=UCD /> In 2011, Slater was inducted twice into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame, as a member of both the 1920 and 1924 national teams. In 2012, Slater was again inducted into the U.S. Rugby Hall of Fame, but this time as an individual player.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://content.cdlib.org/view;jsessionid=5Nkya10RBy6KdocU?docId=kt5p3020w9&chunk.id=bioghist-1.8.3&brand=oac=Biography] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929170700/http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=SLATECOL01 Colby Slater at databaseOlympics.com] *[http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/specol/collections/manuscripts/index.php?collection=309 Colby E. “Babe” Slater Papers] at [http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/specol/ Special Collections Dept.], University Library, University of California, Davis
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Colby}} Category:1896 births Category:1965 deaths Category:University of California, Davis alumni Category:Rugby union players at the 1924 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rugby Category:United States international rugby union players Category:Medalists at the 1924 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Category:United States Army personnel of World War I Category:Farmers from California Category:Sportspeople from Berkeley, California Category:Rugby union players from California Category:20th-century American sportsmen