This Day in Track & Field–September 17, Eino Pentti runs 10,000m AR (1938), Taisto Maki becomes first man under 30 minutes (1939), Mondo Duplantis breaks Sergei Bubka’s WR of 6.14m (2020)! by Walt Murphy News and Results Services,

Walt Murphy is one of the finest track geeks 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.

by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected]), used with permission

This Day in Track & Field–September 17

1933—Italy’s Luigi Beccali, the 1932 Olympic champion, set a World Record of 3:49.0 for 1500 meters on a 500-meter track in Milan, 8 days after tying the existing record of 3:49.2.

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Beccali

WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression

1938—Eino Pentti ran 30:54.6 for 10,000 meters in Helsinki to break Don Lash’s 2-year-old American Record of 31:06.9. Pentti, a 2-time Olympian at 10,000 meters (1932-DNF,1936-16th), was also a 3-time U.S. Champion at a distance (1934,1937,1938).

From his Wiki bio: “He also became a licensed physiotherapist and worked as a well-respected massage therapist in New York, mostly with the New York Athletic Club. His celebrity clientele includes actors like Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, and Al Pacino.”   Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eino_Pentti

AR Progression: https://tf-stats.com/american_outdoor_men.php#m_10000

1939 –Taisto Mäki, coached by fellow Finn Paavo Nurmi,  ran 29:52.6 in Helsinki to become the first man to run the 10,000 meters in under 30 minutes. He set the previous World Record of 30:02.0 in 1938. He also got credit for a World Record of 6 miles. WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_10,000_metres_world_record_progression

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taisto_Mäki

1986–36-year-old Marina Stepanova (Soviet Union/Russia), competing as a guest at the Spartakiade for under-23-year-olds, ran 52.94 in Tashkent, breaking her own World Record of 53.32 in the 400-Meter Hurdles that she had set at the European Championships the previous month. That would remain the Record until Great Britain’s Sally Gunnell ran 52.74 in 1993. WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_400_metres_hurdles_world_record_progression

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Stepanova

2020–It took 15 tries over the last month, but Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, who set two World Records during the indoor season, finally achieved his goal of bettering Sergey Bubka’s outdoor best of 20-1  ¾ (6.14), clearing 20-2 (6.15) at the Golden Gala meet in Rome. Duplantis, still only 20 years old, never touched the bar as he made it over on his 2^nd attempt.

“I hit the mat, but I haven’t really fallen back to earth,” a delighted Duplantis said later. “I think I’m still up in the clouds right now. It’s just one of those feelings where you dream a little bit… It’s surreal, it’s surreal, it’s a super-crazy feeling when everything lines up like that, and you do an excellent performance.”

“There was kind of this confusion between the indoor and outdoor record – it’s kind of merged. I already had the World Record, but I wanted to clear everything up and be the best outdoor.” (Mondo’s indoor best of 20-3  ¼ [6.18]) is considered THE World Record by World Athletics. However, many others, including T&F News, call Mondo’s mark from today the “World Outdoor Record”).

There was hope that Norway’s Karsten Warholm would challenge Kevin Young’s World Record of 46.78 in the 400-meter Hurdles, but “all” he could manage was a time of 47.07, the 9^th-fastest in history (at the time).

In a battle of 19 (almost 20)-year-olds, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo (7:26.64) kicked past Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen (7:27.05) in the homestretch to win a fast Men’s 3000 meters. Australia’s Stewart McSweyn finished 3^rd in 7:28.02 as all three set National Records, with Kiplimo and Ingebrigtsen cracking the All-Time top-10 performers’ list (Outdoors). Kiplimo would turn 20 in November, and Ingebrigtsen on September 19.

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah, the double sprint champion at the 2016 Olympics, won the Women’s 100-Meters in 10.85, the fastest time in the world in 2020.

All-Time Top-10 Performers

Men’s Outdoor 3000  (at the time)

7:20.67       Daniel Komen  Kenya 1996

7:23.09       Hicham El Guerrouj  Morocco 1999

7:25.02       Ali Saidi-Sief Algeria 2000

7:25.09       Haile Gebrselassie  Ethiopia 1998

7:25.11       Noureddine Morceli Algeria  1994

7:25.79       Kenenisa Bekele  Ethiopia 2007

7:26.62       Mohammed Mourhit  Belgium 2000

7:26.64      Jacob Kiplimo  Uganda  2020

7:27.05      Jakob Ingebrigtsen Norway  2020

7:27.18       Moses Kiptanui  Kenya  1995

Results

https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/diamond-league/news/duplantis-kiplimo-warholm-rome-2020

https://trackandfieldnews.com/rome-dl-mondo-finally-gets-the-outdoor-wr/

https://forum.trackandfieldnews.com/forum/current-events/1662013-rome-dl-2020

https://www.letsrun.com/events/2020-rome-golden-gala-pietro-mennea-naples-iaaf-diamond-league/

2023(New)–As reported yesterday, multiple records were set on the final day of the Diamond League Final/Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. World Records were set by Mondo Duplantis (PV/20-5  ¼ [6.23]) and Gudaf Tsegay (5k/14:00.21), and American Records by Athing Mu (800/1:54.97) and Grant Fisher (3000/7:25.47). See yesterday’s report for full details.