He won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship in 1906 and later competed in the men's high jump at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

[4] By 1906, he had come to be regarded as among the best high jumpers nationally,[6] having won that year's Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) indoor championship.

[4] Gidney was selected to represent the United States at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London in the men's high jump event.

He has repeatedly conceded liberal handicaps in his favorite event, and his consistent worth is readily seen from the fact that he has won more prizes from scratch than any athlete in New England, with the probable exception of Bill Coe.

Over 250 trophies of his prowess adorn his home, prizes representing victories over athletes of the highest calibre in this and other lands.

Never ostentatious, modest in speech as well, his friends are numbered in legions, while his ability is recognized wherever athletics hold sway.

His reputation will live long after he has forsaken the jumping path, for Herbert Gidney, has come to be regarded by all as a gentleman, an athlete, a champion.

[1] Gidney lived in Venice, Florida, for the last years of his life, and died at a hospital in Fort Lauderdale in 1963, at the age of 81.