Walt Murphy is one of the finest track geeks that I know. Walt does #ThisDayinTrack&FieldHistory, an excellent daily service that provides true geek stories about our sport. You can check out the service for FREE with a free one-month trial subscription! (email: WaltMurphy44@gmail.com) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–October 16
1938—After officials used burning gasoline to dry a rain-soaked runway, Finland’s Yrjö Nikkanen, the silver medalist at the 1936 Olympics, threw the Javelin 258-2 (78.70) at his National Championships in Kotka to break his own World Record of 255-5 (77.87). More info
1964—New Zealand’s Peter Snell was a relative unknown when he won the 800-meters four years earlier at the Rome Olympics, but he had since become the dominant middle-distance runner in the world. So it was no surprise this time when he worked his way out of a box on the final lap, took the lead with 200-meters to go, and pulled away to successfully defend his title in Tokyo in the Olympic Record time of 1:45.1.
2022—Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana, the 2016 Olympic Champion (and former World Record holder) at 10,000 meters, won the Amsterdam Marathon in 2:17:20, the fastest debut performance in history. Finishing 2nd in 2:18:05 was another debutant from Ethiopia, Genzeba Dibaba, the World Record holder at 1500 meters (at the time).
