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Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)
This Day in Track & Field-February 23
1957–Villanova’s all-star lineup, which included two recent gold medalists from the 1956 Olympics, beat out the New York Athletic Club for the team title at the AAU Championships, which were held at NY’s Madison Square Garden.
Ron Delany, who won the 1500-meters in Melbourne, won the Mile (4:07.0) for the 2nd year in a row, while 400m-champion Charlie Jenkins won the 600y (1:10.4) over a field that included Tom Courtney, the Olympic 800-meter champion. Villanova also got a win from Phil Reavis in the High Jump (6-9 ½ [2.07]) and a 2nd-place in the Pole Vault from Don Bragg, who would win the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics.
Delany’s return to Ireland after Olympics: a-new-irish-hero-goes-home
1963—Just 8 days after running 3:58.6 at the NYAC Games to break his own World Indoor Record in the Mile, Jim Beatty returned to Madison Square Garden and came close to setting another record with his winning time of 3:59.0 at the U.S. Indoor Championships. It was his 3rd straight Mile title (1961-1963). Behind Beatty, who led every step of the way, were Jim Grelle and Bill Dotson, both of whom just missed joining the still-exclusive sub-4 minute club with their respective times of 4:00.0 and 4:00.4.
The Soviet Union’s Igor Ter-Ovanesyan (LJ/26-6 ½ [8.09]) and Valeriy Brumel (HJ/7-3 ½ [2.22+]) continued their winning ways over their American rivals, Ralph Boston (25-9 ¾ [7.86]) and John Thomas (7-0 [2.13+]).
Jack Yerman, a gold medalist in the 4×400 at the 1960 Olympics, ended his career by winning the 600-yards in 1:09.4, just .1s off the World Record.
The meet drew another good crowd of 16,213 fans to the Garden. Sitting in the front row at the finish line was General Douglas MacArthur! While others were trying to get his autograph, Beatty interrupted his victory lap to get MacArthur to sign his program! (see video link)
Mile Video (great post-race coverage): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBMQEZAbfmA
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/02/25/102284642.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1986–Johnny Gray ran 2:04.39 in San Diego to set a World Record for 1000-yards.
Russia’s Galina Chistyakova set a modest World Record of 44-6 ¾ (13.58) in the Triple Jump, which hadn’t yet become a staple on the international circuit.
1986—Holland’s Nelli Cooman set a World Record of 7.00 for 60-meters in Madrid. She ruled indoors during her peak years, winning two World (1987,1989) and six European (1985-1989, 1994) titles at 60-meters. Her time of 7-flat is still =#15 on the All-Time World Performers’ List.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelli_Cooman
1990–In one of the greatest races in U.S. history, three of America’s best-ever distance runners went toe-to-toe in the Women’s 3000-meters at the U.S. Indoor Championships in Madison Square Garden. With all three in peak form and each taking the lead at some point in the race, Lynn Jennings (8:40.45), down 10-meters with two laps to go, came from behind to beat PattiSue Plumer (8:41.45) and Vicki Huber (8:42.13) as all three went under Lesley Lehane’s previous American Record of 8:44.68. All three were members of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. Said Hall-of-Famer Jennings years later, “It was one of my favorite races of all the ones I ran”.
Plumer (4:31.29) came back an hour later to finish 2nd in the Mile to Romania’s Doina Melinte, who won at the Championships for the 4th time and set a Meet Record of 4:27.62.
There was a controversial finish in the Men’s Mile. To many in the Garden, it appeared that Steve Scott had won, since he hit the finish line banner before Marcus O’Sullivan, who had the lead coming off the final turn. What fans didn’t realize was that the banner had been held a couple of feet past the actual finish line, so as not to interfere with the finish-line camera.
When officials examined the photos (from both sides of the runners), they declared a dead-heat. It was an expensive decision for Scott, since the tie enabled O’Sullivan to maintain his lead over Scott in the Grand Prix event and overall standings (a $4,000 difference).
Diane Dixon won the 9th of her record 11 U.S. Indoor titles in the 400m/440y (53.50).
Earlier in the day, Lance Deal, in the early stages of his own 11-title career, won his 3rd U.S. crown in the 35-pound Weight Throw at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym and set an American Record of 78-1/4 (23.78).
Joetta Clark won the 4th of her 7 U.S. titles in the Women’s 800 (2:04.32). (She finished 3rd in 1987 and 2nd in 1988, but earned the U.S. titles as the first American finisher).
Baylor’s Michael Johnson (47.43), not yet a household name, won the first of his two 400-meter titles on the Garden’s 11-lap track.. He would win two more titles (1995,1996) when the meet moved to Atlanta and its spacious 200-meter oval.
The Men’s 4×800 relay was won by the Boston A.A., which was anchored by one Mark Wetmore (not to be confused with the Colorado coach of the same name), the driving force behind Global Athletics, the company that represents many of the world’s best T&F athletes and puts on the annual New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston.
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/24/sports/indoor-track-ends-a-sluggish-season-strongly.html
Jennings HOF Bio (2006): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/lynn-jennings
http://globalathletics.com/
2002–Auburn’s Eva Goulbourne won the Long Jump at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with a leap of 22-8 (6.91m) to set a Collegiate Record. (Tied by TCU’s Whitney Gipson in 2012, broken by Texas’ Tara Davis in 2021)
2002–Pole vaulter Kevin Dare, a 19-year old Penn State sophomore, died after hitting his head on the metal plant box during the Big-10 Indoor Championships at the University of Minnesota.
His memory is kept alive through the Kevin Dare Foundation. https://www.facebook.com/KevinDareFoundation/
http://www.statecollege.com/news/columns/kevin-dares-pole-vault-tragedy-15-years-later,1471259/
2012—Russia’s Yelena Isinbaeva improved her World Indoor Record in the Pole Vault to 16-05 1/4 (5.01) in Stockholm
IAAF Report(and results)
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/isinbayeva-clears-501m-world-record-in-stockh
2019—Drew Hunter won the so-called slow section of the Men’s 2-mile on the second day of the U.S. Indoor Championships at the Ocean Breeze Complex on Staten Island in the Meet Record time of 8:25.29. He then watched anxiously from the sidelines as the pace lagged in the seeded section, with Eric Avila winning in 8:32.41, leaving Hunter as the National Champion!
Colleen Quigley spoiled Shelby Houlihan’s bid for a 4th-straight double-win at these Championships by beating her training partner in a tactical mile, 4:29.42-4:29.92. (Houlihan would win the 2-mile the following day, her 4th straight distance title.
Brittany Brown (35.95) edged Gabby Thomas (35.98) to win the Women’s 300-meters, with both women moving into the All-Time Top-10 list (#7/#8 World; #2/#3 U.S. [at the time]).
High School junior Athing Mu (Trenton,NJ) gave a hint of things to come when she won her heat of the Women’s 600-meters in 1:26.23, breaking Ajee’ Wilson’s American and World Junior Record of 1:26.45. (She would set an American Record of 1:23.57 in the final the following day!).
https://www.flotrack.org/articles/6371176-drew-hunter-wins-usatf-two-mile-title-from-b-heat
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/02/rrw-hunter-gets-usa-two-mile-title-from-section-b/
Results: https://www.flashresults.com/2019_Meets/Indoor/02-22_USATF/
Videos(Subscription Required): https://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&mgroup_event_id=25&do=videos&folder_id=recent&year=2019
2019—North Dakota State senior Payton Otterdahl set a Collegiate Record of 71-6 ¾ (21.81) in the Shot Put at the Summit League Championships in Brookings, South Dakota (since broken). The previous record of 71-3 ½ (21.73) was set by Arizona State’s Ryan Whiting in 2008.
Significant Birthdays
Born On This Day*
Femke Bol-Netherlands 25 (2000) 2023 World Champion-400m Hurdles, 4×400; Silver medalist in the hurdles in 2022
Won a full set of medals at the 2024 Olympics…Gold-Mixed 4×400, Silver-4×400, Bronze-400h
2021 Olympic Bronze medalist—400-hurdles
Was on the verge of leading her team to victory in the Mixed 4×400 relay at the 2023 Worlds when she fell to the ground just as American Alexis Holmes was coming up on her. She redeemed herself by going on to win the hurdles and then running a great come-from-behind anchor on the winning 4×400 relay.
2024 World Indoor Champion—400m, 4×400
Silver medalist in the 400 and 4×400 at the 2022 World Indoor Championships
5-time European Champion-2022/400, 400m-hurdles, 4×400; 2024/400h, 4×400
For the 2nd year in a row, she set a World Indoor Record for 400-meters at the Dutch Championships, running 49.24
in 2024 to shave .02s off her year-old record. Improved the record to 49.17 at the 2024 World Indoor
Championships
Also set a World Indoor Record of 1:05.63 for 500-meters on February 4, 2023
PBs: 22.64i (2024), 22.80 (2024), 49.17i (2024/WR), 49.44 (2022), 1:05.63i (2023/WR),
36.86/300mh(2022/WR), 50.95 (2024/#2 All-Time);
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femke_Bol
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/netherlands/femke-bol-14707010
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/145442
5 Things To Know: https://olympics.com/en/news/five-things-to-know-about-400m-hurdles-star-femke-bol
Videos
2021 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BTOqOqSR-k
2022 WC 2023 WC-400H 2023 WC-Mixed Relay 2023 WC-4×400
49.26: https://worldathletics.org/news/report/femke-bol-world-indoor-400m-record-apeldoorn
49.24: https://worldathletics.org/news/report/femke-bol-world-indoor-400m-record-apeldoorn-2024
49.17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk7sj2O9eyY
’24 OG-Mixed 4×400: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imsNmnaSszU
Valarie Allman 30 (1995) 2-time Olympic gold medalist—Discus (2021, 2024)
Bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, silver medalist in 2023 in Budapest (2019-7th)
2023 & 2024 Diamond League Champion
2014 U.S. Junior Champion…silver medalist at the 2014 World Junior/Under-20 Championships
All-American at Stanford—3rd at the 2016 NCAA Championships
Has set the last 3 American Records in the Discus
230-02 (70.16) August 1, 2020 Rathdrum, Idaho
233-05 (71.16) September 12, 2021 Berlin, Germany
234-05 (71.46) April 8, 2022 LaJolla,CA (longest throw in the world since 1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUBoQexS9xE
2024 SB: 232-7 (70.89)
Moved to Austin when her coach at Stanford, Zebulon Sion, took a similar position at Texas
Serves as a Volunteer Assistant coach with the Longhorns.
Donated the singlet and shoes she wore while winning the Olympic title in Tokyo to the World Athletics Heritage
collection. The items are displayed in the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA).
Credits her early career as a dancer with helping her in the discus circle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valarie_Allman
Reflecting on the ’21 Olympics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjiemf–1qs
On Winning Her 2nd Gold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XouYHWOSfhY
’21 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=silrPLJrvFU
’24 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSsuX30hhug
https://www.worldathletics.org/personal-best/performance/valarie-allman-dance-and-discus
https://worldathletics.org/news/feature/valarie-allman-discus-usa-mowa
https://worldathletics.org/news/feature/valarie-allman-usa-discus-tokyo-oregon-paris
Stanford Bio: https://gostanford.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/valarie-allman/12628
https://www.instagram.com/vallman123/?hl=en
Zach Ziemek 32 (1993) Bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships–Decathlon
2016 NCAA Indoor Champion—Heptathlon (Wisconsin/5th in 2013 & 2014)
NCAA Decathlon-2014 (5th), 2016 (2nd)
“Double Z” is the first American to complete 3 Olympic Decathlons-2016 (7th); 2021 (6th), 2024 (17th)…struggled to
finish his 3rd in Paris after suffering a knee injury in the Long Jump, the 2nd event on day one.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/04/olympics-zach-ziemek-us-record/
DNF-2017 World Championships, 15th-2015;
6th in the Heptathlon at the 2018 World Indoor Championships
Had the best score by an American in 2019 (8344), but an injury suffered at the U.S. Championships ended his
chances of competing at the World Championships in Doha.
PBs: 6173i (2016), 8676 (2022/#9 All-Time U.S.); 2024 SB: 8516
https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/3764267/Wisconsin/Zach_Ziemek.html
Pre-Rio Interview
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Ziemek
Bronze
Deceased
Lee Calhoun 56 (1933-June 21, 1989) 2-time Olympic gold medalist—110-hurdles (1956, 1960)
Won both golds in photo-finishes over U.S. teammates:
1956-Calhoun 13.5 (13.70), Jack Davis (13.5/13.73)
1960-Calhoun 13.98, Willie May 13.99
Tied the World Record of 13.2 in 1960
2-time NAIA & NCAA Champion (1956,1957-North Carolina Central)
3-time U.S. Champion (1956,1957,1959); 2-time U.S. Indoor Champion—60y-hurdles (1956,1957)
Ranked #1 in the world in 1960 (1956-2, 1957-2, 1959-3)
Suspended by the AAU for the 1958 season for being married on the television show “Bride and Groom” and
receiving gifts after the ceremony!
Coached at Grambling, Yale, and Western Illinois
Charter Member of the National Hall of Fame (1974)
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/22/obituaries/lee-calhoun-56-a-star-hurdler.html
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78189
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Calhoun
Remembering Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gd6bvto0x4
Suspension:
theolympians.co/2016/04/22/the-pains-of-amateur-purity-in-america-part-1-two-time-gold-medalist-hurdler-lee-calhoun/
Videos:
1956: https://hurdler49.wordpress.com/category/hurdles-2/lee-calhoun/
1960: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sIwZKn2_6A
