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 20
1956— Records were set in three events in Ontario, California, at a tuneup meet for the Melbourne Olympics. Leamon King ran 10.1 to equal the World Record in the 100-meters, and American Records were set by Max Truex in the 5000 (14:22.8) and Ira Davis in the Triple Jump (51-11[15.82]).
1964—Germany’s Willi Holdorf won the Decathlon at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo with a score of 7887 points, with the silver going to Estonia’s Rein Aun (7842) and the bronze to another German, Hans-Joachim Wolde (7809). American Paul Herman finished 4th (7787), leaving the U.S. without a medal in the event for the first time in Olympic history.
5th was C.K. Yang, the silver medalist at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. The former UCLA star had set a monumental World Record of 9,121 points in 1963, thanks in large part to his success with the relatively new fiberglass implement in the Pole Vault. However, new scoring tables that took effect in 1964 lessened Yang’s advantage in that event.
Great Britain’s Ann Packer won the Women’s 800-Meters with a World Record time of 2:01.1. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were France’s Maryvonne Dupureur (2:01.9) and New Zealand’s Marise Chamberlain (2:02.8).
North Korea’s Shin Geum-Dan had run 1:58.0 the previous month, but couldn’t compete in Tokyo because her country had been suspended by the IAAF (she also couldn’t get credit for a WR).
A day after winning the Discus, the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Tamara Press (59-6 1/4 [18.14]/OR) won a 2nd gold in the Women’s Shot Put. Winning silver and bronze were East Germany’s Renate Garisch (57-9 1/2 [17.61]) and the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Galina Zybina (57-3 [17.45]).
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1964_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: http://www.olympedia.org/editions/16/sports/ATH
Coincidentally, Kon Ichikawa’s memorable documentary (Tokyo Olympiad-2 hours) was released in the U.S. on this date in 1965!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHt0eAdCCns
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Olympiad
Videos
W800: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F10IOKnkh0s
Packer Analyzes the 800: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmdr7NNEJtk
Toomey (2012): https://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=72207
1968-Jim Ryun had established himself as the #1 miler (metric and imperial) in the world, setting World Records in the 1500 and mile (breaking his own) in 1967. But he was not only going up against his old rival, Kenya’s Kip Keino, in the final of the Olympic 1500, he was also facing Mexico City’s 7,300’ elevation.
Unfazed by the altitude (since he grew up in a similar environment), Keino’s teammate, Ben Jipcho (apparently acting as a sacrificial lamb–he would finish 10th), took the field through a fast 56-second first 400-meters, while Keino, who was at the back of the pack for the first 100-meters, came through in 56.6 (behind Germany’s Harald Norpoth). Meanwhile, a cautious Ryun, possibly weakened by a fever, was well back in 58.1.
Keino, who had won the silver medal in the 5000 three days earlier, took the lead with two laps to go and went through the 800 split in 1:55.3, with Ryun more than 3 seconds behind (1:58.5). Keino, stung by Ryun’s kick in the past, was taking no chances this time, and was never challenged as he went on to win in a fast 3:34.91, 2nd only to Ryun’s World Record of 3:33.1 on the all-time list (at the time), and a time thought unattainable at altitude. Ryun (3:37.8) finished well to take the silver medal, while Germany’s Bodo Tummler (3:39.0) won the bronze. The other Americans didn’t fare so well, with Tom Von Ruden finishing 9th and an injured Marty Liquori (4:18.22) struggling home in last place.
U.S. fans had been treated to the sight of Dick Fosbury’s revolutionary technique in the High Jump, but now the rest of the world got to enjoy the wonderment of watching him going over the bar backwards! Fosbury made the most of his time on the world stage, grabbing the gold medal and breaking John Thomas’s 8-year old American Record (7-3 3/4 [2/23]) with his winning height of 7-4 1/4 (2.24). Teammate Ed Caruthers (7-3 1/4 [2.22]) won the silver medal, and the bronze was won by the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Valentin Gavrilov (7-2 1/2 [2.20]).
While Fosbury has justifiably been given credit for introducing the style that bears his name, he wasn’t the first to try it. That honor apparently belongs to Montana prep Bruce Quande, who used the flop at the 1963 Montana H.S. State meet! (See the link below).
For the 3rd Olympics in a row, a runner from Ethiopia won the Men’s Marathon. The great Abebe Bikila, the winner in 1960 and 1964, had to drop out of the race with a leg injury, but countryman Mamo Wolde, who had earlier won the silver medal in the 10,000, picked up the slack, winning in 2:20:26.4. Silver and bronze went to Japan’s Kenji Kimihara (2:23:31) and New Zealand’s Mike Ryan (2:23:45). Kenny Moore (2:29:49) was the top American in 14th place, with teammates George Young placing 16th (2:31:15) and Ron Daws 22nd (2:33:53).
East Germany’s Margitta Gummell bettered her own World Record (61-11 [18.87]) while winning the Women’s Shot Put, throwing 62-6 3/4 (19.07) and 64-4 (19.61). 2nd was East Germany’s Marita Lange (61-7 1/2 [18.78]) and 3rd was the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s Nadezhda Chizhova (59-8 1/4 [18.19]).
The U.S. won all three relays and set World Records in each (the Women’s 4×400 wasn’t added to the Olympic program until 1972).
Men’s 4×100 (38.2/38.24)–Charlie Greene, Mel Pender, Ronnie Ray Smith, and Jim Hines, the 100-meter champion. 2nd and 3rdwere Cuba (38.3/38.40) and France (38.4/38.43), which edged Jamaica (38.4/38.47) to earn the bronze medals.
Women’s 4×100 (42.8/42.88)–Barbara Ferrell, Margaret Bailes, Mildrette Netter, and Wyomia Tyus, the 100-meter
Champion. 2nd and 3rd were Cuba (43.3/43.36) and the Soviet Union (43.4/43.41).
Men’s 4×400 (2:56.1/2:56.16/final T&F event of the Games)– Vince Matthews-45.0, Ron Freeman-43.2, Larry James-43.9, Lee Evans-44.1. With a team that included the 3 medalists from the 400, including two who had been under the previous World Record, and the advantage of Mexico City’s altitude, the only question was how fast they would run in the final. The answer was a quick 2:56.1, which was more than 3 seconds faster than the previous mark of 2:59.6. That time would stand alone as the World Record until another U.S. team matched the auto-time of 2:56.16 at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Next across the line were Kenya (2:59.6/2:59.64) and West Germany (3:00.5/3:00.57), which edged Poland (3:00.5/3:00.58) for the bronze medals.
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1968_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: http://www.olympedia.org/editions/17/sports/ATH
Videos:
1500: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_9AAy7yZTc
High Jump: https://olympics.com/en/video/men-s-high-jump-final-mexico-1968-great-olympic-moments
4×400
Fosbury-50th Anniversary(2018): https://www.worldathletics.org/news/feature/dick-fosbury-flop
Statue Unveiled: https://onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com/2018/10/v-8-n-64-50-years-ago-today-oct-20-2018.html
The First Flopper?: https://torontosun.com/sports/other-sports/fosburys-flop-endured-but-the-quande-curl-apparently-came-first
“1968”-NBC’s excellent documentary that centers on the U.S. Olympic T&F team and the turbulent events that took place during the year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ss6qavj29c
The official results for running events at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics were recorded in tenths, but auto-times were available.
Past Olympics—Top 8 plus American finishes: https://trackandfieldnews.com/olympic-results/
1985–The 9th Chicago Marathon turned out the largest number of runners the race had seen to date, and the fastest. Nearly 10,000 competed as Welshman Steve Jones (2:07:13) and Joan Benoit Samuelson (2:21:21), running her first 26.2-miler since becoming the first women’s Olympic champion in the event in 1984, claimed victory.
Jones’s goal was to regain the World Record (which he set in Chicago in 1984), but he missed Carlos Lopes’ current standard by just one second. His victory earned him $35,000 for winning, $10,000 for setting the new course record and $13,000 in time bonuses for running under 2:08
The women’s division featured one of the top fields ever assembled. Following Benoit Samuelson across the line were Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen (2:23:05), the World Record holder, and Portugal’s Rosa Mota (2:23:29), the Olympic bronze medalist (and Chicago’s defending champion).
While Benoit Samuelson’s winning time of 2:21:21 missed Kristiansen’s World Record by just 15 seconds, she did set American and course records.
Race Highlights(28 minutes long): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZ7u5aU0PY
Benoit Looks Back: http://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/10/08/joan-benoit-samuelson-reflects-1985-chicago-marathon-win
Jones’ Preparation: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/that-1980s-sports-blog/2013/apr/23/steve-jones-victory-1985-london-marathon
Past Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_Chicago_Marathon
