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Walt Murphy is one of the finest track statisticians 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.
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This Day in Track & Field–September 9
1916—George Bronder set an American Record of 190-6 (58.06) in the Javelin in Newark, New Jersey; Bronder won six straight U.S. titles from 1914-1919. That stood as the record for most wins in the event until Breaux Greer won his 7th straight in 2006 (he won his 8th in 2007),
Bronder had just finished his junior year at Poly Prep H.S. in Brooklyn when he won his first U.S. title in 1914. After a tour of duty during World War I, he entered the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a winner at the 1921 and 1922 Penn Relays and the 1922 IC4A Championships.
He moved his family to Australia in 1926 and became a fixture on the local T&F circuit into the 1930s.
http://athletics.possumbility.com/athletes/athlete2332.htm
(You need to zoom in to view the article in the upper left-hand corner)
1928—Silvio Cator of Haiti became the first long-jumper to break the 26-foot barrier, jumping 26-1/4 (7.93) in Colombes, France. Cator, who had won the silver medal in the Long Jump at the Amsterdam Olympics in late July, was also a member of Haiti’s national soccer team. He remains the only athlete from Haiti to win an Olympic medal in T&F and still holds the Haitian Record, one of the oldest National Records in the sport (maybe THE oldest).
1933—Italy’s Luigi Beccali, the 1932 Olympic gold medalist in the 1500, ran 3:49.2 at the World Student Games in Turin, Italy, to equal the World Record, which had been set in 1930 by France’s Jules Ladoumègue. Beccali, 2nd in that race, took sole possession of the WR when he ran 3:49.0 eight days later in Milan.
1968—The Decathlon had already finished two days earlier, and now it was time to select the rest of the U.S. team at the Olympic Trials at Echo Summit.
There was one final, with Tracy Smith (30:00.4), Van Nelson (30:04.0), and Tom Laris (30:09.8) taking the first three places in the 10,000-meters. Old favorites Billy Mills (30:32.2) and Gerry Lindgren (30:44.2) were 4th and 5th, while Kenny Moore (31:18.2), who had made the team in the Marathon the previous month, finished 7th.
This was the first time the U.S. Trials followed the Olympic schedule, requiring athletes to compete in as many rounds as they would face in Mexico City. But the fields were much smaller in 1968 than they have been since then, so very few athletes were eliminated in the first round of any event. In fact, no one was eliminated in the first two rounds of the 100 meters, which were held on this date.
The iconic setting of the Trials is now a California Historical Landmark. Some athletes who made the 1968 team visited the site during the 2014 U.S. Championships in Sacramento.
Off-the-track: I stayed at a local motel 2-3 miles away from Stateline, Nevada, and its legal gambling establishments. I was without a car, and no bus was available (I tried to save a few bucks by not taking a cab), but I was determined to get to Harrah’s Casino.
Setting out on foot on US-50, illuminated only by whatever moonlight was available, I soon heard dogs barking on the other side of the road. I set PRs at every distance from 100 yards to the mile as I ran until the yelping faded in the distance! I finally made it to Harrah’s and still had enough money left to spring for a cab back to the safety of my motel!
Bob Burns did a great job capturing the essence of the Trials in his book, “The Track In The Forest” (see links below).
The Track in the Forest:
https://www.amazon.com/Track-Forest-Creation-Legendary-Olympic/dp/0897339371
https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/track-in-the-forest–the-products-9780897339377.php
1972—19-year-old American Randy Williams, who had set a World Junior Record of 27-4 ½ (8.34) in the previous day’s qualifying round, sealed a win in the final of the Men’s Long Jump at the Munich Olympics with his opening effort of 27-1/2(8.24).
Winning silver and bronze were Germany’s Hans Baumgartner (26-10 [8.18]) and American Arnie Robinson (26-4 ¼ [8.03]), who would win gold 4 years later in Montreal. Williams, who had won the NCAA title as a USC freshman in June, would win the bronze medal in Montreal.
Failing to make the final were Great Britain’s Lynn Davies, the 1964 Olympic Champion, and the Soviet Union’s Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, the bronze medalist in 1960 and 1964.
Led by the Soviet Union’s Lyudmila Bragina, the Women’s 1500-meter, which was making its debut at the Olympics, was taken to a new level In Munich. Bragina was already the World Record holder coming into the Games, having run 4:06.9 in July to break the previous mark by almost three seconds. She then improved the record in each of her three races in Munich, running 4:06.47 in her heat, 4:05.07 In her semi-final, and then bringing it all the way down to 4:01.38 in the final, with the following 6 finishers also getting under her pre-Games record!
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