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Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–September 10
1911—Eric Lemming, the 1908 Olympic Champion in the Javelin, celebrated the first anniversary of his 12th (Pre-IAAF) World Record of 185-8 (56.60) by improving it to 191-2 (58.27) in Lidköping, Sweden. Lemming would win his 2nd Olympic gold medal in 1912. (He also won the gold medal in the “freestyle” javelin in 1908).
1912 Video (free signup required): http://www.olympic.org/eric-lemming
1955—Hungary’s Sándor Iharos ran 13:50.8 for 5000-meters in Budapest to break Vladimir Kuts’s year-old World Record of 13:51.2.
Kuts would regain the record 8 days later, running 13:46.8 in Belgrade, only to have Iharos improve the record the following month by a whopping 6.2 seconds with his clocking of 13:40.6 back in Budapest.
Great Britain’s Gordon Pirie would break Iharos’s mark when he ran 13:36.8 in 1956, while Kuts would get the record back a final time by running 13:35.0 in 1957. He would hold on to the record for more than 7 years until Australia’s Ron Clarke ran 13:34.8 early in 1965.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5000_metres_world_record_progression
1960–Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila, running barefoot, closed out the T&F portion of the Rome Olympics by winning the Marathon in the World Record time of 2:15:16.2. Finishing in dramatic fashion at night, under the Arch of Constantine, Bikila became the first East African to win an Olympic gold medal. He would win his 2nd Olympic marathon 4 years later in Tokyo. Winning silver and bronze in Rome were Morocco’s Rhadi ben Abdesselem (2:15:41.6), and New Zealand’s Barry Magee (2:17:18.2). Johnny (“The Younger”) Kelley (2:24:58) was the top American finisher in 19th place.
Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1960_Summer_Olympics_–_Men%27s_marathon
Olympedia Reports: http://www.olympedia.org/editions/15/sports/ATH
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_zRr9KOFWE
Rome/Tokyo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Nygi01VqI
IAAF Hall of Fame: https://worldathletics.org/news/news/hall-of-fame-profile-abebe-bikila-ethiopia
Photos: http://tinyurl.com/jmte7
SI Vault–National Hero(1965):
https://vault.si.com/vault/1965/04/12/the-number-two-lion-in-the-land-of-sheba
1966—Averaging better than 60-seconds per lap, Germany’s Harald Norpoth became the first man to break 5-minutes for 2000-meters, running 4:57.8 in Hagen, Germany. Norpoth won the silver medal in the 5000-meters at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
WIki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Norpoth
http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=202
1968—The U.S. Olympic Trials (men) continued at Echo Summit with finals in the 100-meters and the Shot Put.
Jim Hines (10.11) beat arch-rival Charlie Greene (10.15) to win the sprint, with Mel Pender (10.20) edging Ronnie Ray Smith (10.22) and Clyde Glosson (10.23) to make his 2nd U.S. Olympic team. Hines and Greene would win gold and bronze at the Mexico City Olympics.
It was a clear top three in the shot, with George Woods (68-1/4 [20.73]), Dave Maggard (67-4 ¼ [20.53]), both setting PBs, and Randy Matson (67-1 ¼ [20.45]) securing Olympic births. Matson and Woods would win gold and silver in Mexico City.
Bob Burns captured the spirit of the Trials in this article:
http://www.pausatf.org/data/2013/tfechosummit.html
And in his book:
The Track in the Forest:
https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/track-in-the-forest–the-products-9780897339377.php
History of the Trials
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1968/09/23/triumph-and-tragedy-at-tahoe
1972—American Frank Shorter (2:12:19.8) battled hot and humid conditions to win the Olympic Marathon on the final day of competition in Munich, the city in which he was born. He became the 1st American winner of the event since Johnny Hayes won in 1908. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were Belgium’s Karel Lismont(2:14:31.8) and 38-year old Ethiopian Mamo Wolde(2:15:08.4), the defending champion. The Yale grad’s win is credited with creating the running boom in the U.S.
Watching the finish of the race on the infield was the great Abebe Bikila, the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Champion. Confined to a wheelchair, Bikila was paralyzed from the waist down in an auto accident shortly after the 1964 Olympics.
In a recent email, Shorter related the following about the terrorist attack that had disrupted the Games: “While walking back to the athletes’ village from the memorial service at the stadium, I said to Kenny (Moore), ‘ You know, the only place the terrorists could do anything more would be out on the Marathon course, but I’m not going to think about it because if I do they win. I ran the entire race and never thought about it’”.
Moore, who finished 4th in the race, recalled the night of the attack on the Israeli team in this article he wrote for Sports Illustrated.
“There have been shootings in the night”:
“I remember weeping for my own event, the marathon, for years of preparation that seemed wasted, and for the violated sanctuary of the Games. It truly did not hit me until then, in my 29th year, that the Olympics were not somehow immune to every threat to which the larger world was subject.”
“I was not alone. Steve Prefontaine, the 5,000-meter runner, raged at the terrorists’ blindness, at what, to him, was their sheer, malignant nerve. These are our Games,’ he cried. ‘Anyone who would murder us for some demented cause just proves himself incapable of understanding what we do’.” Moore would become one of the best writers to ever cover track and field for Sports Illustrated.
Finland’s Lasse Virén completed his distance double by winning the 5000-meters in 13:26.42 (Olympic Record), a week after taking the title in the 10,000. Tunisia’s Mohammed Gammoudi, the defending champion, finished 2nd in 13:27.33. Steve Prefontaine (13:28.25), going for the win, fought Virén and Gammoudi gallantly on the final lap before fading to 4th down the homestretch. Pre missed out on the bronze medal when he was passed in the final strides by Great Britain’s Ian Stewart (13:27.61).
Another Finn, Pekka Vasala (3:36.3), upset defending champion Kip Keino (3:36.8) to win the Men’s 1500-meters. New Zealand’s Rod Dixon (3:37.46) finished 3rd, and Kenya’s Mike Boit (3:38.41) was 4th.
Estonia’s Jüri Tarmak won the Men’s High Jump at 7-3 ¾ (2.23), with East Germany’s Stefan Junge (7-3[2.21]) winning the silver medal. 18-year old Dwight Stones, competing in the first of his three Olympics, won the bronze medal with his 3rd-jump clearance of 7-3 (2.21). He would win a 2nd bronze medal in 1976.
Tarmak and Stones provide half of the answer to a popular trivia question—“Can you name the high-jumpers who could jump off their last name?”—can you name the other two (or more)?” (Answer below)
Eddie Hart, denied an opportunity to win a medal in the 100-meters after missing his 2nd-round race, took full advantage of a 2nd chance by anchoring the U.S. to victory in the Men’s 4×100 in 38.2 (out of lane 1!) to equal the World Record that was set by another U.S. team in the altitude of Mexico City in 1968. (The team’s auto-time of 38.19 was the first of its kind recognized by the IAAF in 1977). Preceding Hart were Larry Black and Robert Taylor, the silver medalists in the 200 and 100, respectively, and Gerald Tinker (Black’s cousin). Hart had enough of a lead to easily hold off the late charge by double sprint champion Valeriy Borzov, who brought the Soviet team home in 2nd place (38.50), ahead of West Germany (38.79).
With Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett banned because of their actions on the victory stand after their 1-2 finish in the 400, and John Smith still sidelined by a hamstring injury, the U.S. was unable to field a team in the previous day’s heats of the Men’s 4×400.
Winner of the final was Kenya (yes, Kenya!) with a time of 2:59.83, followed by Great Britain (3:00.46) and France (3:00.65). Kenya’s lineup was Charles Asati (45.3), Munyoro Nyamau (45.3), Robert Ouko (45.5), and Julius Sang, whose come-from-behind 43.6 anchor brought his team home in 1st place. Ouko and Sang (and American Larry Black), ran on the North Carolina Central team that set a Collegiate Record of 3:03.1 at the Penn Relays in April!)
East Germany won the first Olympic 4×400 for women and set a World Record of 3:22.95 (Dagmar Käsling 52.2, Rita Kühne 50.0, Helga Seidler 50.5, Monika Zehrt 50.3). The U.S., with a lineup of Mable Ferguson (51.8), Madeline Manning (51.9), Cheryl Toussaint (51.3), and Kathy Hammond, who had the fastest anchor leg (50.2), won the silver medals and set an American Record of 3:25.15. 3rd in 3:26.51 was West Germany.
West Germany won the Women’s 4×100 and tied the hand-timed World Record of 42.8 (auto-42.81). The U.S. (43.39) finished 4th behind East Germany (42.95) and Cuba (43.36).
Medalists in the Women’s Discus were the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Faina Melnik (218-7 [66.62]), Romania’s Argentina Menis (213-5 [65.06]), and Bulgaria’s Vasilka Stoeva (211-1 [64.34]).
Answer to the above HJ trivia question: In addition to Stones and Tarmak, others who could jump off their last name were Tom Woods and Benn Fields!
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1972_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/18/sports/ATH
Back to Munich(Shorter/2012)
Videos: 5000(last 3-1/2 laps) Marathon(no audio) Marathon #2 1500(non-English) M4x100(anchor) W4x100(anchor)
1978—Cal-State Northridge’s Julie Brown, taking a break from her training for the upcoming cross-country season, set an American Record of 2:36.24 at the Nike Oregon Marathon in Eugene
Register-Guard Coverage
https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5511751
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike_OTC_Marathon
1986—Morocco’s Said Aouita (5000) and Bulgaria’s Yordanka Donkova (100-Meter Hurdles) were the Overall winners at the 2nd Mobil Grand Prix in Rome. Each won $35,000, $25,000 for the overall title, $10,000 for winning their respective events in Rome.
Winning $25,000 (15/10) as overall runnersup were American Andre Phillips (400h) and Romania’s Maricica Puică (1500), and 3rd-placers Steve Scott (Mile) and Bulgaria’s Tsevtanka Khristova (Discus) won $20,000 (10/10).
Scott ran 3:50.28 to win the mile over Spain’s José Abascal (3:50.54), New Zealand’s John Walker (3:50.93), Ireland’s Frank O’Mara (3:51.06), Spain’s José Luis González (3:51.20), American Jim Spivey (3:52.72), and Great Britain’s Mark Rowland (3:52.99).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_IAAF_Grand_Prix_Final
2000—France’s Marie Collonvillé won the seldom-contested Women’s Decathlon in Lage, Germany with a score of 7731 points. 2nd was Tiffany Lott-Hogan, who set an American Record of 7577 points (since broken).
2017—5th Avenue Mile—Jenny Simpson won the women’s race for the 5th straight year (and 6th time overall), running 4:16.6 to tie PattiSue Plumer’s event record, and Nick Willis (3:51.3) won his 4th Men’s title.
https://www.letsrun.com/events/2017/09/2017-fifth-avenue-mile
Results: https://www.flotrack.org/results/5986610-2017-new-balance-5th-avenue-mile/1104
https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=324&do=news&news_id=489400
Post-Race Videos: https://www.flotrack.org/events/5966756-2017-new-balance-5th-avenue-mile
2023—It was a sweep for Scotland in wet and slick conditions at the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile.
Jemma Reekie (4:19.4) fought off Ireland’s Sarah Healy (4:20.0) to win the Women’s race for the 2nd year in a row, while Josh Kerr, the newly-crowned World Champion at 1500-meters, won the Men’s race in 3:47.9, the 4th-fastest time in the history of the event, which began in 1981.
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a45087293/2023-5th-avenue-mile-results/
Videos: Men Women
Media Guide (2023): https://www.nyrr.org/media-center/events/2023/2023-new-balance-5th-avenue-mile
Past Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Avenue_Mile
Complete Results:
Men: 1. Josh Kerr (GB) 3:47.9; 2. George Mills (GB) 3:49.9; 3. Geordie Beamish (NZ) 3:50.0; 4. Vincent Ciattei (US) 3:50.3; 5. Azeddine Habz (Fra) 3:50.5; 6. Sam Prakel (US) 3:50.5; 7. Johnny Gregorek (US) 3:51.2; 8. Kasey Knevelbaard (US) 3:52.0; 9. Cooper Teare (US) 3:52.2; 10. Henry Wynne (US) 3:52.5; 11. Amon Kemboi (Ken) 3:53.4; 12. Thomas Ratcliffe (US) 3:54.0; 13. Morgan Beadlescomb (US) 3:54.5; 14. Woody Kincaid (US) 3:55.2; 15. Eric Holt (US) 3:55.3; 16. James West (GB) 3:58.0; 17. Olin Hacker (US) 3:58.6; 18. Charles Philibert-Thiboutot (Can) 3:59.6; 19. Erik Sowinski (US) 4:01.9.
Women: 1. Jemma Reekie (GB) 4:19.4; 2. Sarah Healy (Ire) 4:20.0; 3. Melissa Courtney-Bryant (GB) 4:20.6; 4. Nikki Hiltz (US) 4:20.7; 5. Adelle Tracey (Jam) 4:21.3; 6. Jessica Hull (Aus) 4:21.6; 7. Elle St. Pierre (US) 4:23.3; 8. Nozomi Tanaka (Jpn) 4:23.4; 9. Katie Snowden (GB) 4:23.8; 10. Laura Galván (Mex) 4:23.9; 11. Dani Jones (US) 4:24.7; 12. Carina Viljoen (SA) 4:27.7; 13. Kaela Edwards (US) 4:29.7; 14. Helen Schlachtenhaufen (US) 4:30.4; 15. Susan Ejore (Ken) 4:30.6;
Emily MacKay (US) 4:31.8; 17. Gaia Sabbatini (Ita) 4:32.3; 18. Vera Hoffmann (Lux) 4:34.0; 19. Regan Yee (Can) 4:35.5; 20. Courtney Frerichs (US) 4:38.2h.
Born On This Day*
Queen Harrison-Claye 37 (1988)—Won three NCAA hurdles titles in 2010: Indoors-60m, Outdoors-100m, 400m (Virginia
Tech)…coached by Charles Foster in college
2008 U.S. Olympian-400m Hurdles
2015 Pan-American Games Champion—100m-hurdles
5th in the 100m-hurdles at the 2013 World Championship
Semi-finalist in the 400-hurdles at the 2008 Olympics and 2011 World Championships
5th in the 100-hurdles at the 2019 U.S. Championships
Winner of the Bowerman award in 2010, presented to the outstanding U.S. collegian
Married to Long/Triple Jumper Will Claye. After winning his 2nd Olympic silver medal in the Triple Jump at the 2016
Olympics, he proposed to her in the stands in Rio,
Father gave his children special names and told them ‘you deserve this name, regardless of what path you choose
in life.’”….her full name is Queen Quedith Earth Harrison….”Her sisters are Graceful, Zuequal, Muun, Princess and
Empress. Her brothers are King Master, Victory and Goldin, whose full name surely is one of a kind: God Goldin
Zig Zag Zig Allah”.
PBs: 7.83i (2016), 12.43 (2013), 54.55 (2010); Last competed in 2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Harrison
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/114928
Bowerman
