by RBR AdminWalt 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–July 13
1912—This day in Stockholm marked the beginning of the first Olympic Decathlon conducted with the same 10 events that are currently used. The one wrinkle in Stockholm is that the event was held over 3 days! (day 1-100, LJ, SP; Day 2-HJ, 400, DT, 110h; Day 3-PV, JT, 1500). Jim Thorpe, who had won the 5-event Pentathlon six days earlier, went on to win his 2nd gold medal in this event and was told by the King of Sweden, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world”. To which Thorpe reportedly replied, “Thanks, King”. Thus began the tradition of bestowing the “greatest” title to the winner of the Olympic Decathlon.
After incidents at the 1908 Games and in the semi-finals here, lanes were used for the first time in the Men’s 400-meters final. American Charles Reidpath set an Olympic Record of 48.2 to win the gold medal in a close battle with Germany’s Hanns Braun (48.3) and U.S. teammate Edward Lindberg (48.4). Ted Meredith finished 4th in 49.2. Mel Sheppard had one of the fastest times in the semi-finals, but was edged for the lone qualifying spot in his race by Meredith, who had beaten him for the gold medal in the 800 earlier in the Games.
The event is no longer contested, but the “team 3000” race was won by a U.S. lineup of Tel Barna (8:44.6), Norman Taber (8:45.2), and George Bonhag (8:46.6).
Results
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1912_Summer_Olympics
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016499.html
Obituary(1953): http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0528.html
100 Years of the Decathlon: http://www.runmichigan.com/view.php?id=16234
1924–A U.S. lineup of Frank Hussey, Louis Clarke, Loren Murchison, and Alfred LeConey ran 41.0 in the semi-final and final at the Olympics in the Paris suburb of Colombes to set a World Record in the 4×100 relay. The same foursome set the previous mark of 41.2 in the first round. A 2nd record fell to the American 4×400 team of Commodore Cochran (50.1), William Stevenson (49.2), Oliver MacDonald (48.5), and Alan Helffrich (48.2), which ran 3:16.0.
Cochran, the 1922 and 1923 NCAA 440y Champion while at Mississippi A&M (now State), later coached his younger brother, Roy, who won gold medals in the 400-hurdles and 4×400 relay at the 1948 Olympics. Stevenson later served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Phillipines.
Five days after winning the Shot Put, future Hall-of-Famer Bud Houser won the first of his two gold medals in the Discus, setting an Olympic Record of 151-5 (46.155).
Results
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1924_Summer_Olympics
WR Progressions:
4×100: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_4_x_100_metres_relay_world_record_progression
4×400: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_4_x_400_metres_relay_world_record_progression
1957–The Soviet Union’s Yuri Stepanov became the 2nd man in history to clear 7-feet in the High Jump, clearing 7-1 (2.16) to break Charlie Dumas’s year-old World Record of 7-1/2 (2.15). Stepanov was (in)famous for using a built-up shoe on his take-off foot, an aid that the IAAF banned the following year.
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1957/09/09/the-red-shoe-mystery
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_high_jump_world_record_progression
1963–John Pennel regained the American Record in the Pole Vault from Brian Sternberg (16-8 [5.08]) by clearing 16-8 ¾ (5.10) at White City Stadium in London.
Hall of Fame Bio(2004): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/john-pennel
1973–Dave Bedford ran 27:30.80 in London to break Lasse Viren’s World Record for 10,000 meters by more than 7 seconds (27:38.4). Bedford served many years as the director of the London Marathon. Check the link below for more on one of the more colorful characters ever associated with the sport.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_10,000_metres_world_record_progression
Bedford/Marathon: http://tinyurl.com/BedfordMarathon
1979–Louise Ritter raised her American Record in the High Jump by 1/2-inch, clearing 6-4 (1.93) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The future Hall-of-Famer went on to win Olympic gold in 1988.
HOF Bio(1995): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/louise-ritter
1984–Jumping at Crystal Palace in London, pole vaulter Sergey Bubka got the 3rd World Record of his still-young career by clearing
19-4 ¼ (5.90) on his first attempt.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_world_record_progression
1985–It was a barrier that meant much more to the rest of the world than it did to most U.S. fans, but Sergey Bubka, a year to the day after setting a WR of 5.90 (19-4 ¼…later improved to 5.94 [19-5 ¾]), became the first man in history to clear 6-meters (19-8 1/4) in the Pole Vault. Bubka cleared his opening height of 5.70 (18-8 1/4) in Paris on his first attempt, then had the bar raised to the historic height (This was well before the days when Bubka would raise the record a centimeter at a time). He needed all three jumps to get over the magical barrier.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_world_record_progression
