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This Day in Track & Field–July 20
1876–It was the year that the U.S. celebrated the 100th anniversary of its birth, but it was also the year that saw the first Championships of the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, better known by its acronym, the IC4A.
For the three previous years, a series of informal foot races were held as “sideshows” in conjunction with the popular rowing regattas in Saratoga Springs,NY. After the running races grew in popularity, representatives from Amherst, Columbia, Harvard, Cornell, Union, Yale, Wesleyan, and Williams met in late 1875 and the new group was formed. A later meeting that also drew representatives from Brown, Trinity, Dartmouth, Princeton, and CCNY outlined the plans for the new group’s first official competition, which would take place in Saratoga on July 20, a day after the rowing regatta.
The very first IC4A Champion was Princeton’s T.A. Noble, who won the 3-mile walk. Among the other winners, who competed in front of an enthusiastic crowd, were Princeton’s J.M. Mann in the Shot Put (30-11 ½ [9.43]), his teammate R.A. Greene in the 1/2-mile (2:16 1/2), and Yale’s W.J. Wakeman, who set an American Record of 17-1/4 seconds in the 120-yard hurdles.
Shortly after Mann won the baseball throw with an impressive toss of 368’-6” (112.31), a heavy rainstorm pushed the remaining events to the following day. There were two double winners on the second day. Dartmouth’s E.C. Stimson won the 3-mile in 16:21–1/2, then came back to win the Mile in 4:58–1/2. And Williams’s H.W. Stevens won the 100-yard dash in 11-flat and the 1/4-mile in 56 seconds.
The IC4A remained an Eastern affair for many years, but then grew in national stature with the addition of schools from the Midwest (Michigan, Michigan State) and West (Cal-Berkeley, Stanford, Southern Cal, UCLA). Cal, Stanford, and USC won 16 team titles from 1921-1939. Those schools continued to participate at the ICs for about 20 years after the establishment of the NCAA Championships in 1921 (Some did both). The meet eventually reverted to a primarily Eastern competition. (From John Lucas’s “The IC4A Championships–a 100-year History”.)
Harvard at the IC4A: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1968/3/14/the-history-of-harvard-sports-pharvards/
1952–Emil Zátopek won the 10,000-meters on the first day of competition at the Olympic Games in Helsinki (29:17.0-Olympic Record)–the first leg of his amazing Olympic triple. He went on to win the 5000 on the 24th (14:06.72) and the Marathon on the 27th (2:23:03.2-OR).
Finishing 2nd to Zátopek in the 5000 and 10,000 (in 1948 and 1952) was his good friend, France’s Alain “Ali” Mimoun, who would win the 1956 Olympic Marathon at the age of 35. Pat Butcher tells Mimoun’s story in “The Destiny of Ali Mimoun”. Butcher also writes about Zátopek in “Quicksilver, the Mercurial Emil Zátopek”. If you’re interested in purchasing either book, contact Pat at [email protected]
Walt Davis, who overcame polio as a child, won the High Jump with a clearance of 6-8 ¼ (2.04). The 6’-8” (2.03) Davis went on to play five seasons in the NBA with the Philadelphia Warriors and St.Louis Hawks. Check out the link below for a look at the various jumping styles in vogue at the time.
This was the first Olympics for athletes from the Soviet Union and they made an immediate impact, sweeping the medals in the Women’s Discus, led by gold medalist Nina Romashkova (168-8 [51.42]).
Video of Zátopek’s 5k: http://www.runningpast.com/vintage_media.htm
Bill Squires describes the final lap. http://www.runningpast.com/emil_zatopek.htm#1952_5k
Wiki Bio-Davis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Davis
NBA-Davis: http://www.legendsofbasketball.com/alumni/walt-davis/
High Jump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7T76GcJOQ
https://sportsmatik.com/sports/high-jump/about
