by Larry Eder
This Day in Track & Field–July 27
1952–In a great battle on the final day of the Olympics in Helsinki, Jamaica edged the U.S. in the 4×400 relay as both teams (3:03.9-3:04.0) smashed the previous World Record of 3:08.2, which was set by a U.S. team at the 1932 Olympics.
Ollie Matson (46.7), who went on to have a great career in the NFL (see July 25), gave the U.S. a slight lead over Jamaica’s Arthur Wint (46.8), the 1948 Olympic 400 champion, on the opening leg. Gene Cole extended the U.S. lead with a great 45.5 split, while Les Laing kept Jamaica within striking distance with his 47-flat carry.
Jamaica’s Herb McKenley, hungry for gold after earlier winning silver medals in the 100 and 400, was 12-meters behind when he got the baton. No one thought he could maintain his early pace as he tore after Charlie Moore, the gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles. But McKenley never let up and passed Moore (46.3) in the last few strides, splitting an amazing 44.6. It was the first time in history that anyone had ever run one lap in under 45-seconds. Finishing 3rd was Germany (3:06.6).
The anchor leg provided a classic matchup between Jamaica’s George Rhoden, the gold medalist in the 400, and American Mal Whitfield, now a 2-time Olympic Champion at 800-meters, and the man who had anchored the U.S. to Olympic victory in this event 4 years earlier in London. The two gave the crowd a thrill, going stride-for-stride for the entire 400-meters, with Rhoden just barely holding off Whitfield, with both splitting 45.5.
Ironically, the Jamaican team was coached by an American–Hall-of-Famer Joe Yancey, the creator and coach of the New York Pioneer Club! There was a lot of local bitterness when the Joe Yancey Track at Macombs Dam Park was torn up to make room for the new Yankee Stadium. However, its replacement, which is right across the street from the new Stadium, has gone a long way to erase any lasting resentment. (See NY Times link below).
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11685
The U.S. won the Men’s 4×100 relay (40.1) in Helsinki with a lineup that included three familiar runners who had already won gold medals in other events. Handling the last three legs were Harrison Dillard (110-hurdles), Lindy Remigino (100), and Andy Stanfield (200). Leading off was Dean Smith, who would later become famous in other activities. Smith, the 1952 U.S. Champion in the 100 (and 4th in that 100 photo-finish won by Remigino), went on to become a rodeo star, an actor, and a Hall-of-Fame stuntman in Hollywood. He passed away on June 24, 2023, at the age of 91! 2nd and 3rd were the Soviet Union (40.3) and Hungary (40.5).
The U.S. also won the Women’s 4×100 with a lineup of Mae Faggs, Barbara Jones, Janet Moreau, and Cathy Hardy, who came from behind to edge Germany’s Marga Petersen. Both teams were credited with a World Record of 45.9 (46.14-46.18). Jones, aged only 15 years, 123 days on the day of the final, remains the youngest athlete to have won an Olympic T&F gold medal.
Australia had set the previous WR of 46.1 in the qualifying round and led in the final by two meters on the final curve, run by Winsome Cripps. The exchange to Marjorie Jackson, who had previously won the 100/200 double, was clean initially. But Cripps brought up a knee and knocked the baton from Jackson’s hand. To her credit, Jackson caught the baton on the bounce, and ran on, but the delay proved disastrous, and Australia could only finish fifth (from Olympedia.org).
Czech Emil Zatopek had already won the 5000 and 10,000 in Helsinki and closed out his memorable Olympics by winning a 3rd gold medal in the Marathon, setting an Olympic Record of 2:23:03.2. Winning silver and bronze were Argentina’s Reinaldo Gorno (2:25:35.0) and Sweden’s Gustaf Jansson (2:26:07.0).
Medalists in the 10k Walk were Sweden’s John Mikaelsson (45:02.8), Switzerland’s Fritz Schwab (45:41.0), and the Soviet Union’s Bruno Junk (45:41.0).
South Africa’s Esther Brand (5-5 ¾ [1.67]) won the Women’s High Jump over Great Britain’s Sheila Erwill (6-5 [1.65]) and the Soviet Union’s Aleksandra Chudina (6-4 ¼ [1.63])
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1952_Summer_Olympics
Video(4×400/anchor leg): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ2lw7dXHhM
Joe Yancey
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/13/sports/ATH
Macombs Dam Park: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/nyregion/10macombs.html?_r=1
Dean Smith
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Smith_(sprinter)
Memoir: “Cowboy Stuntman: From Olympic Gold to the Silver Screen”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/us/cowboy-stuntman-dean-smith-writes-a-memoir.html
http://www.amazon.com/Cowboy-Stuntman-Olympic-Silver-Screen/dp/0896727890
1967–Australian Ron Clarke set a World Record of 8:19.8 for 2-miles in Västerås, Sweden.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_miles
1980–Nadezhda Olizarenko of the Soviet Union won the Women’s 800-meters at the Moscow Olympics, running 1:53.43 to smash the previous World Record of 1:54.9, which she had shared with fellow Soviet Tatyana Kazankina. Teammate Olga Mineyeva was also under Kazankina’s mark with her runnerup time of 1:54.81. Tatyana Providokhina (1:55.5) made it a Soviet sweep with her 3rd-place finish.
Three days after running a heat, Ethiopia’s Miruts Yifter (“The Shifter”) won a thrilling 10,000-meters (27:42.69), sprinting past teammate Mohammed Kedir and Finland’s Lasse Virén, the 2-time defending Olympic champion, with 300-meters to go to take the first half of his distance double (Yifter, who ran his final 400 in 54.9, would win the 5000 five days later). Kedir wound up 3rd (27:44.64) behind Finland’s Kaarlo Maaninka (27:44.28), while Viren (27:50.46) faded to 5th.
East Germany’s Thomas Munkelt edged Cuba’s Alejandro Casañas, 13.39-13.40, to win the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles. Finishing 3rd was the Soviet Union’s Aleksandr Puchkov (13.44). The boycott kept away the top Americans, including Renaldo Nehemiah.
The Soviet Union’s Dainis Kūla (299-2 [91.20]) and Aleksandr Makarov (294-1 [89.64]) finished 1-2 in the Men’s Javelin, with the bronze medal going to East Germany’s Wolfgang Hanisch (284-6 [86.72])
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1980_Summer_Olympics
WR Progression(W800): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/800_metres_world_record_progression
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/20/sports/ATH
10k: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6eHUXDCKmQ
110h: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWimaOqgxoM
800: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emKCD1-8JZc
1985–Most meets would be thrilled to have one world record, but this year’s Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, produced three! The first mark to fall was in the Men’s 5000-meters, where Morocco’s Said Aouita, overtaking Sydney Maree on the final homestretch after a great last-lap battle, ran 13:00.40 to break Dave Moorcroft’s record of 13:00.41 by the barest of margins. Maree followed in 13:01.15 to break Alberto Salazar’s American Record (13:11.93-1982).
Next up was the Women’s 10,000-meters. Running the event for the first time on the track, Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen, already the holder of world records in the 5000 (14:58.89) and Marathon (2:21:06), broke the 31-minute barrier with her record time of 30:59.42. The old mark of 31:13.78 was set by Olga Bondarenko in 1984.
Finally, there was the Dream Mile. This was no mere record chase, but a battle of titans. The field included Great Britain’s dynamic duo of world record holder Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, who had just set a WR in the 1500 (3:29.67) 11 days earlier, and three additional sub-3:50 milers–Steve Scott, John Walker, and José Luis González. Coe had beaten Cram for the gold medal in the 1500-meters at the previous year’s Olympics in L.A., but Cram had the hot hand this year and won going away in 3:46.32 (originally reported as 3:46.31) to break Coe’s mark of 3:47.33. Coe slipped to 3rd (3:49.22) behind González (3:47.79), with Scott also getting under 3:50 (3:49.93).
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1985/08/05/a-midsummer-nights-dream-mile
Maree: http://villanovarunning.blogspot.com/2010/07/
WR Progressions:
5000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5000_metres
10,000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10,000_metres
Mile http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_run_world_record_progression
Video(Mile-ABC Coverage with Marty Liquori) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpNfSBD0OvE
