Walter Thane Baker (born October 4, 1931) is a former American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

At the 1952 Summer Olympics, Thane Baker won a silver medal in 200 m. In 1953, as a Kansas State University student, he won the NCAA 220 yd championships and in 1956 he won the AAU championships in 200 m.

Before the Melbourne Olympics, Baker repeated the Jesse Owens' long stood 100 m world record 10.2 and also equalled the 200 m world record of 20.6 two times. At Melbourne, Baker won a silver medal in 100 m and bronze in 200 m. He also ran the third leg in the American 4x100 m relay team, which took the gold medal with a new world record of 39.5.