by Larry Eder
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.
Track & Field History is copyrighted by Walt Murphy News and Results Services, and all rights are reserved. RunBlogRun uses this content with permission.
This Day in Track & Field–July 15
1900—It was a busy day at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, with gold medals determined in 10 events, some of which had short Olympic lives. Many religious athletes declined to compete in their respective finals on a Sunday! And there was no traditional track! Events were contested on a grass field, with running events conducted on a 500-meter loop,
60m/Long Jump-Al Kraenzlein won his 2nd and 3rd gold medals (he had won the 110-hurdles the previous day), edging U.S. teammate Walter Tewksbury in the sprint as both were timed in 7.0. The Long Jump was filled with controversy. Marks in Saturday’s qualifying round would count towards determining the eventual winner, and Myer Prinstein led the way with a jump of 23-1 ½ (7.175), with Kraenzlein 2nd at 22-9 (6.93). Even though he was Jewish, and had competed on his own Sabbath, Prinstein was told by his college (Syracuse) that he couldn’t compete on Sunday. He reportedly entered into an agreement with Kraenzlein that neither would compete on Sunday. But Kraenzlein did compete, and wound up as the Olympic champion after topping Prinstein’s qualifying mark by one centimeter (7.185 [23-2). Prinstein had to be restrained from going after Kraenzlein when the result was announced! He gained some consolation by winning the gold medal in the Triple Jump the following day and in the Long Jump at the 1904 Olympics.
400—Maxie Long, the 1899 IC4A Champion from Columbia (and 3-time U.S. Champion) won in 49.4.
1500—Great Britain’s Charles Bennett pulled away from France’s Henri Deloge (4:07.2) in the final stretch to win in the World Record time of 4:06.2
400-meter hurdles—Walter Tewksbury (57.6) won this unusual rendition of this event. The “hurdles” were a series of 30-foot long telegraph poles except for the final hurdles—a water jump! (They obviously didn’t run the race in lanes).
2500-meter steeplechase—Canada’s George Orton, 3rd in the 400-hurdles, won in 7:34.4.
High Jump—With fans allowed to gather close to the event, Irving Baxter won with a clearance of 6-2 ¾ (1.90)
Pole Vault—Shortly after winning the High Jump, Baxter completed a very unusual double by winning this event at
10-10 (3.30). Officials, aware that some athletes had stated they wouldn’t compete on a Sunday, originally told them they could try to better Sunday’s marks on Monday, but changed their minds. A competition was held on Monday, with Bascom Johnson clearing 11-1 (3.38), and yet a 3rd event was held, with Dan Horton clearing 11-3 ¾ (3.45), but Baxter remained as the Olympic champion.
Shot Put—Richard Sheldon won with a toss of 46-3 1/8 (14.10). It was the 6th and final American Record of his career.
Discus—Golfers would have appreciated this event, which was held in the Boulogne Forest. With trees lining the throwing area, many throws ended up in the “rough”. Staying clear of trouble, Hungary’s Rudolf Bauer’s best of 118-3 (36.04), which he threw in the previous day’s qualifying round, held up as the winning performance.
(Notes from the IAAF’s Athletics Statistics Book from the 2012 Olympics).
WR Progression(1500): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
Bios
Tewksbury: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/walter-tewskbury
Kraenzlein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Kraenzlein
Prinstein: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/meyer-prinstein
Long: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxie_Long
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1900_Summer_Olympics
1912—As the Stockholm Olympics ended, Jim Thorpe earned his 2nd gold medal by winning the 3-day Decathlon with the World Record score of 8412.955 points (6564 under current scoring tables). Thorpe, who had earlier won the Pentathlon, reportedly ran the 1500-Meters with two “throwaway” shoes-one too small, one too big!
At the awards ceremony, Sweden’s King Gustav is reported to have told Thorpe, “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world”. To which Thorpe reportedly replied, “Thanks, King”. Thorpe was later stripped of his titles and medals after being declared a “professional” for accepting money for playing baseball, but he was reinstated by the International Olympic Committee in 1983.
LINKS:
http://home.epix.net/~landis/thorpe.html;
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016499.html;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe
(Includes information on a successful petition to restore Thorpe as the sole winner of both the Pentathlon & Decathlon (had been listed as “co-Champion).
Sole Champion: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/sports/olympics/jim-thorpe-olympics-medal-restored.html
(you can find many more sites by Googling “Jim Thorpe”.
There was a medal sweep in the Triple Jump by Sweden’s Gustaf Lindblom (14.76 [48-5 ¼]), George Aberg (14.51 [47-7 ¼]), and Eric Almlof (14.17 [46-6]).
An All-Star U.S. lineup of Mel Sheppard, Edward Lindberg, Ted Meredith, and Charles Reidpath won the 4×400 relay by more than 4 seconds over runnerup France (3:20.7) and set a World Record of 3:16.6.
Some defunct events: the 12k cross-country race (7-15) was won by Finland’s Hannes Kolehmainen (45:11.6), while Sweden won the team title; Standing High Jump (7-13) was won by American Platt Adams (1.63/5-4 1/4); the Standing Long Jump (7-8) by Greece’s Kostas Tsiklitiras (3.37/11-3/4).
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1912_Summer_Olympics
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_4_x_400_metres_relay_world_record_progression
1933—In a highly anticipated matchup, New Zealand’s Jack Lovelock (4:07.6 ) won the Mile over American Bill Bonthron (4:08.7) as both bettered the World Record of 4:09-1/5 at the Cornell/Princeton-Oxford/Cambridge meet at Princeton. Bonthron’s time broke Glenn Cunningham’s month-old American Record of 4:09.8.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_run_world_record_progression
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/8922807/Lovelocks-world-mark-recalled
https://www.nzhalloffame.co.nz/New-Zealand-Sports-Hall-of-Fame-Inductees/L/Jack-Lovelock
Bonthron: http://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/19/obituaries/bill-bonthron-70-set-mile-and-1500-marks.html
1939–Germany’s Rudolf (Rudi) Harbig took the World Record for 800 meters to a different level by running 1:46.6 on the 500-meter track in Milan, Italy. The previous mark of 1:48.4 was set by Great Britain’s Sydney Wooderson the year before. The 1.8s differential remains the greatest improvement on a previous record in the event’s history. World War II had something to do with the longevity of Harbig’s record, but it is still notable that it held for 16 years until Belgium’s Roger Moens ran 1:45.7 in 1955. Harbin was killed in action during the war in 1944.
The highly anticipated race had been billed as a matchup between Harbig and Mario Lanzi, but he sprinted away from his Italian rival down the long homestretch. Lanzi came close to the old record with his runner-up time of 1:49.0.
Harbig would add the 400 World Record to his resume a month later, running 46.0 in Frankfurt.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70264
http://racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=125
WR Progressions
(800) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/800_metres_world_record_progression
(400) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_400_metres_world_record_progression
1956—Coached by the legendary Mihály Iglói, Hungary’s Sándor Iharos ran 28:42.8 in Budapest to break Emil Zátopek’s World Record for 10,000 meters (28:54.2). Iharos had previously set World Records in the 1500 and 5000.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_10,000_metres_world_record_progression
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sándor_Iharos
http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=139
1960–19-year old Harry Jerome ran 10.0 at the Canadian Olympic Trials in Saskatoon to equal Armin Hary’s month-old World Record in the 100-meters. Jerome, who would later pull up with a hamstring injury in his semi-final at the Rome Olympics, went on to have a great collegiate career at Oregon, winning NCAA titles in 1962 (220y) and 1964 (100m). He won the bronze medal in the 100 at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
The popular Jerome, who also competed at the 1968 Olympics, died at the young age of 42 due to a brain aneurysm, but his memory lives on in Canada, as many sporting facilities and awards bear his name, and the Harry Jerome International Track Classic is one of the major fixtures on the Canadian circuit. http://www.harryjerome.com/
Walk of Fame: http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductee/harry-winston-jerome
Photos: http://tinyurl.com/696ucgq
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_100_metres_world_record_progression
1960—Willye White jumped 20-4 ½ (6.21) in Abilene, Texas, to regain the American Record (again) from former Tennessee State teammate Margaret Matthews, who had jumped 20-3 ½ (6.18) in 1958.
AR Progression (From 1956)
19-04 5.89 Margaret Matthews 8-18-56
19-09 ¼ 6.02 Matthews 8-25-56
19-11 ¾ 6.09 Willye White 11-27-56
20-01 6.12 Matthews 7-05-58
20-02 ½ 6.16 White 8-02-58
20-03 ½ 6.18 Matthews 8-06-58
20-04 ½ 6.20 White 7-15-60
White, who would compete in 5 Olympics, would set 4 additional American Records, her last of 21-6 (6.55) in 1964.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willye_White
1961—Wilma Rudolph, the triple Olympic gold medalist (100,200,4×100) at the previous year’s Olympics in Rome, ran 11.3 in Moscow on the first day of competition at the 3rd USA-Soviet dual meet to equal her American Record in the 100-meter. (Full report tomorrow–July 16).
https://vault.si.com/vault/1961/07/24/the-high-meet-the-mighty
1970—Patty Van Wolvelaere ran 13.3 in Stuttgart, Germany, to set the first of her 7 American Records in the 100-meter hurdles. She was inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 2017.
https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/patty-vanwolvelaere-weirich
1970—Germany’s Josef Schwarz won the Long Jump in Stuttgart in a dual meet against the U.S. with a leap of 27-4 ¾ (8.35). That matched the low-altitude record that was set by Ralph Boston in 1965.
The Soviet Union’s Igor Ter-Ovanesyan had equaled Boston’s World Record in the high altitude of Mexico City in 1967, and, of course, Bob Beamon set his amazing World Record of 29-2 ½ (8.90) at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
1980–Steve Ovett ran 3:32.1 for 1500-meters in Oslo to equal the World Record held by his British rival, Sebastian Coe.
Mary Decker won the 3000 in 8:38.73 to break Jan Merrill’s American record of 8:42.6, which had been set on the same track in 1978.
Video(1500): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgynlaXoVUY
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
1988—Randy Barnes won the Shot Put (71-9 ½ [21.88]) by more than 3-feet on the opening day of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana. Also making the team were Gregg Tafralis (68-6 [20.88]) and Jim Doehring (67-8 ¼ [20.63]), who edged Ron Backes (67-8 [20.62]) for the 3rdOlympic berth. Barnes would win the silver medal at the Seoul Olympics.
Results/Notes: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/1988.pdf
1989—The Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Maksim Tarasov set a World Junior Record of 19-1/4 (5.80) in a dual meet against East Germany in Bryansk, Russia. That remained as the WJR until 2017, when Mondo Duplantis ended the season with a best of 19-4 ¼ (5.90).
1994—Pushed by Great Britain’s Yvonne Murray for most of the race, Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan ran 8:21.64 in London to set a European Record for 3000-meters. Some feel she should get retroactive recognition as a World Record holder since there is some question about the validity of all of the fast marks that came out of China in 1993, including Wang Junxia’s ratified WR of 8:06.11!
Video (poor quality): https://corkrunning.blogspot.com/2014/07/sonia-osullivan-broke-european-3000m.html
All-Time List: https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/world-all-time-list-women/
2000—There were 5 finals on the 2nd day of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento (July 14-23). Making the team were:
Men’s 100-Maurice Greene (10.01), Curtis Johnson (10.07), Jon Drummond (10.07). World Record holder Greene would win
the gold medal in Sydney
Men’s Shot Put-Adam Nelson (72-7 [22.12]), C.J. Hunter (71-9 [21.87]), Andy Bloom (70-10 ¼ [21.61])…John Godina
(69-2 ½ [21.09]) was added to the team after Hunter was suspended for a doping violation. Nelson and Godina
would win silver and bronze, respectively, in Sydney
Women’s 100–Marion Jones (10.88), Inger Miller (11.05), Chryste Gaines (11.13)…Jones would finish 1st in the 100 (and
200) in Sydney, but was later stripped of her medals for doping violations.
Women’s Hammer–Dawn Ellerbe (227-0 [69.20]), Amy Palmer (217-7 [66.31]), Jesseca Cross (217-2 [66.20])
Heptathlon–DeDee Nathan (6343), Shelia Burrell (6339), Kelly Blair-LaBounty (6180)
Results/Writeups: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2000.pdf
2004—The U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento (July 9-18) resumed after a 2-day break. Making the team on this day:
Men’s 400–Jeremy Wariner (44.37), Otis Harris (44.67), and Derrick Brew (44.69), who edged Darold Williamson (44.70) for
the 3rd spot on the team. Finishing in the same order, the 3 individual Olympians would sweep the medals in
Athens and join Williamson, Wariner’s teammate at Baylor, on the winning 4×400.
Men’s Steeplechase–Daniel Lincoln (8:15.02), Anthony Famigletti (8:17.91), Robert Gary (8:19.46)
Women’s Long Jump–Marion Jones (23-4 [7.11]), Grace Upshaw (22-5 [6.83]), Akiba McKinney (21-6 ¾ [6.57])…Jones
would finish 3rd at the Athens Olympics, but was later stripped of her medal as part of her punishment for doping
violations
Women’s Hammer–Erin Gilreath (231-0 [70,42]), Anna Mahon (227-1 [69.23]), Amber Campbell (216-6 [65.98])
Women’s Steeplechase–Ann Gaffigan (setting an American Record of 9:39.35), Kassi Andersen (9:45.52), Carrie
Messner (9:50.70)
Results/Writeups: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2004.pdf
Olympic Trials History: https://trackandfieldnews.com/usa-olympic-trials-history/
2012–The World Junior (Under-20) Championships in Barcelona (July 10-15) featured many future stars:
Winners (unless otherwise noted)
Men’s Javelin–Trinidad & Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott (258-0 [78.64]); Won Olympic gold in London the following month
(2016-Bronze)
Men’s 800–Botswana’s Nijel Amos (1:43.79/MR); won the silver medal at the London Olympics and set a World Junior
Record of 1:41.73. https://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=73840
Men’s Steeplechase–Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto (8:06.10); 2016 Olympic gold medalist, 2017 & 2019 World
Champion (silver-2013, 2015)
Men’s Triple Jump–Cuba’s (now Portugal’s) Pedro Pablo Pichardo (55-1 [16.79]); 2021 Olympic gold medalist, 2-time silver
medalist-World Championships (2013, 2015), won gold in 2022
Women’s 400–American Ashley Spencer (50.50/MR); 2-time NCAA Champion (Illinois/2012,2013); 2016 Olympic bronze
Medalist in the 400-meter hurdles…4th in the 400 was the Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller (Uibo), the 2010 Champion;
2-time Olympic gold medalist (2016,2021); 3-time medalist in the 400 at the World Championships-gold (2022), silver
(2015,2019), 2022 World Indoor Champion
Women’s 800–American Ajee’ Wilson (2:00.91); bronze medalist-2017 & 2019 World Championships; 2022 World Indoor
Champion (2-time silver medalist (2016, 2018). American Indoor Record holder, former Outdoor Record holder
Women’s 1500–Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon 4:04.96 (MR); 2-time Olympic gold medalist (2016, 2021), 2017 & 2022 World Champion/
silver medalist 2015 & 2019…set a World Record of 3:49.11 on June 2, 2023, and improved to 3:49.04 on July 7, 2024
Women’s High Jump (bronze)–Russia’s Mariya Kuchina-Lasitskene (6-2 [1.88]); 2021 Olympic Champion; 2-time World
Indoor (2014,2018) and 3-time World Outdoor (2015,2017,2019) Champion
Women’s Long Jump–Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson (22-4 1/4w [6.81]); 2019 & 2023 World Champion-Heptathlon,
2018 World Indoor Champion-Pentathlon
Also
Gunnar Nixon won the Decathlon and set an American Junior Record of 8018 points.
Mary Cain (Bronxville,NY) finished 5th in the Women’s 1500-meters and set a U.S. High School Record of 4:11.01,
breaking the previous mark of 4:14.50, set by Jordan Hasay in 2008.
Kendell Williams (Kell,GA) finished 8th in the Heptathlon with a U.S. High School Record of 5578 points. She went on to
win 7 NCAA titles in the multi-events (Georgia/3-Heptathlon, 4-Pentathlon)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_World_Junior_Championships_in_Athletics
2018—When I first did a recap of the World Junior (Under-20) Championships in Tampere,Finland (July 10-15), I reported that it was too early to determine which athletes would go on to have success at the senior level, but I did note the following exceptions. (See below for others who have since made a successful transition).
One of the exceptions was U.S.-born Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, who, representing Sweden, the birthplace of his mother, won the Pole Vault (19-1 [5.82]) in Tampere, then went on to win the gold medal at the European Championships in Berlin the following month, setting a U.S. High School Record of 19-10 ¼ (6.05) that could last for a very long time. He has set multiple World Records, the most recent happening on April 20, 2024 (20-5 ½ [6.24]). He won gold medals at the 2021 Olympics, 2022 & 2023 World Championships, and the 2022 & 2024 World Indoor Championships.
Another exception was Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who also had success in Berlin. After finishing 2nd in the 1500 and 3rd in the 5000 in Tampere, he went on to become a double European Champion, winning the 1500 and 5000 meters. He won Olympic gold in the 1500 in 2021 and won the 5000 at the 2022 & 2023 World Championships.
Jamaica’s Briana Williams, winner of the 100 and 200, set a U.S. High School Record of 10.94 in 2019 and was named T&F News’ Female H.S. Athlete of the Year.
Finally, Kenya’s Celiphine Chespol, who won her 2nd title in the Women’s Steeplechase (9:12.79), had already set a World Junior Record of 8:58.78 while winning at the 2017 Pre Classic, and is the 8th-fastest performer in history.
Others who have emerged on the world scene in recent years
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos, 3rd in the Men’s 400-hurdles, won the bronze medal at the 2021 Olympics and gold at the 2022 World Championships. With a best of 46.29, he’s the 3rd-fastest man in history.
Tara Davis-Woodhall, 3rd in the Women’s Long Jump, was the 2021 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion while at Texas, won the silver medal at the 2023 World Championships, and gold at the 2024 World Indoor Championships.
Canada’s Camryn Rogers, the winner of the Women’s Hammer Throw, won 3 NCAA titles while at Cal-Berkeley (2019, 2021, 2022) and won the gold medal at the 2023 World Championships (silver in 2022).
Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, 4th in the Men’s 5000, won gold in the 10,000 at the 2021 Olympics and in the 3000 at the 2022 World Indoor Championships.
JuVaughn Harrison, 3rd in the Men’s High Jump, won 6 NCAA titles while at LSU from 2019-2021 (3-HJ, 3-LJ) and was the silver medalist in the HJ at the 2023 World Championships.
Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock, 3rd in the Men’s Long Jump, won 3 NCAA titles while at Tennessee and Arkansas and was the silver medalist at the 2023 World Championships.
Australia’s Ashley Moloney, winner of the Decathlon, was the bronze medalist in the Dec at the 2021 Olympics and in the Heptathlon at then 2022 World Indoor Championships.
Kenya’s Mary Moraa, 5th in the Women’s 400, won gold in the 800 at the 2023 World Championships (bronze in 2022).
Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, 3rd in the Women’s Steeplechase, won gold at the 2023 World Championships
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_IAAF_World_U20_Championships
2022—Three finals were held on the opening day of the World Championships, which were being held in the U.S. for the 1st time at the renovated Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
The home crowd got excited when Elija Godwin gave the U.S. a big lead with his 44.71 opening leg in the Mixed 4×400 Relay. The noise reached a fever pitch as Allyson Felix (50.15), competing in her 8th Worlds, started expanding the lead midway through her carry, but she was caught right before the handoff by the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino (48.47).
Vernon Norwood put the U.S. back in the lead with his 44.40 split, but anchor Kennedy Simon (50.90), after going out hard in the first 200m, was passed right before the finish line by the DR’s Fiordaliza Cofil (49.92) and the Netherlands’ Femke Bol (48.95)
(3:09.82-3:09.90-3:10.16)
Felix’s bronze gave her a record 19th WC medal. At the time, it was thought that would be her final WC appearance, but she would win her 20th(gold) medal after running in the 1st round of the Women’s 4×400.
Other Medalists
Women’s 20k Walk: 1.Kimberley García (Peru) 1:26:58, 2.Katarzyna Zdziebło (Poland) 1:27:31, 3.Shenjie Qieyang (China) 1:27:56
Men’s 20k Walk: 1.Toshikazu Yamanishi (Japan/defending champion) 1:19:07, 2.Koki Ikeda (Japan) 1:19:14, 3.Perseus Karlström (Sweden) 1:19:18
Reports: Mixed 4×400 M20k Walk W20k Walk
