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: [email protected] ) 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–May 5
by Walt Murphy News and Result Service ([email protected]), used with permission.
1956–The University of Oregon has produced dozens of sub-4-minute milers during its illustrious history, and the first was Australian Jim Bailey, who ran 3:58.6 in a special race during the annual USC-UCLA dual meet at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Almost 40,000 fans cheered as Bailey, who had beaten teammate Bill Dellinger to win the NCAA mile in 1955, overtook world record holder (and fellow Australian) John Landy to win the race. Bailey became the first man to run a sub-4 minute mile in the U.S.
An early leader in the race was Villanova’s (and Ireland’s) Ron Delany, who would win the gold medal in the 1500 meters at the Melbourne Olympics later in the year, with Landy winning the bronze. Bailey made the Australian team in the 800 and 1500 but was eliminated in the semi-final round of the 800 and never ran the 1500. Said Bailey, “I wasn’t right, mentally or physically”. Delany wound up in 3rd place (4:05.6), followed by Dellinger (4:08.8).
With expectations of another sub-4-minute mile from Landy, the second man to break the magical barrier (after Roger Bannister), the race was shown later in the day on TV after coverage of the Kentucky Derby was completed.
Bailey, who was only in the race to make it more competitive for Landy, was vilified by fans in Australia for beating their National hero and making less than conciliatory remarks when he returned home. “They would have excused me if I had been more apologetic about beating Landy and not said the things I did,” he told the Seattle Times’ Blaine Newnham in 2006. “Landy was so popular…. I got death threats for what I’d done, and I was booed at the (Olympic) trials.” Unpopular in his own country, Bailey lived in the state of Washington for decades until his passing in 2020 at the age of 90. “Your country has been kinder to me than mine”, said Bailey. More at:
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20060430&slug=blai30
Race Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGvFEaB4hos
Sub-4 Reunion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgSYvWt6O1k
In-Depth Obituary: https://www.nswathletics.org.au/news/vale-jim-bailey-1956-olympian/
USC won the dual meet over UCLA, despite the Bruins getting 3 wins and a 2nd from Rafer Johnson (100y:9.8, 120h:13.9,
LJ: 25-5 ¾ [7.76+]; 2nd-220y)
1956—Parry O’Brien bettered his own 2-year-old World Record in the Shot Put (60-10 [18.54]) with a toss of 61-1 (18.61m) in Salt Lake City.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_shot_put_world_record_progression
1956—Competing at home in a dual meet with arch-rival North Carolina, sophomore Dave Sime, who was at Duke on a baseball scholarship, won the 100y in 9.4 and the 220y in 20.3, both times just a tenth of a second off the World Record in each event. He then won the 220y-hurdles (on the straightaway) in 22.2 to break Harrison Dillard’s World Record of 22.3! Oh, and Sime also finished 2nd in the high jump and long jump and 3rd in the discus to help the Blue Devils win the dual meet over the Tar Heels.
A week before this meet, Sime had beaten Abilene Christian’s Bobby Morrow in the 100y at the Drake Relays. Morrow went on to win 3 gold medals (100, 200, 4×100) at the Melbourne Olympics later in the year, but Sime’s Olympic hopes were hampered after he suffered a groin injury during a horseback riding incident during a trip out West, where he was getting ready to compete at the NCAA Championships in Berkeley,CA. He was able to finish 2nd to Morrow in the NCAA 100m, but DNF’d in the 200 after the injury surfaced again.
He went to the U.S. Olympic Trials, but pulled up in the first round of the 100 after just a few strides. He came back four years later to make the 1960 Olympic team in the 100, winning the silver medal in Rome behind Germany’s Armin Hary. His grandson is NFL star Christian McCaffrey!
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210765725
1959–Abilene Christian’s Bill Woodhouse ran 9.3 on his home track to equal the world record for 100-yards.
https://acusports.com/news/2014/1/10/TRACK_0110142222
1961—San Jose State’s Dennis Johnson ran 9.3 for 100-yards in Sunnyvale, California, tying the World Record for the 3rd time in less than 2 months. Johnson passed away in April. 2021 at the age of 81, a victim of Covid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Johnson_(athlete)
