by RBR Admin
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
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field—October 4
1900—Rabbits have been commonplace in races 800m and up for a long time, but in a ¼-Mile? Maxey Long, the winner of the 400-meters at the Paris Olympics earlier in the season, ran a pre-IAAF World Record of 47.0 for 440-Yards (around one turn) in an Exhibition Handicap race in Guttenberg,NJ and got help from D. Edwards, who “rabbited” for Long for 220y after being given a 10y start, dropping out at the halfway point, but his place was taken by P.J. Walsh, who paced Long to the finish!
1931—France’s Jules Ladoumègue lived up to the title of the meet in Paris—“Record Attempt”—by running 4:09.2 to break Paavo Nurmi’s 8-year old World Record for the Mile (4:10.4).
Ladoumègue, the silver medalist in the 1500-meters at the 1928 Olympics, had set a World Record of 3:49.2 for 1500-meters the previous year on the same track in Paris.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Ladoumègue
1953—Great Britain’s Jim Peters ran 2:18:34.8 in Turku, Finland, to better his own World Record in the Marathon,
https://vintagerunning.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/jim-peters/
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression
1997—Villanova celebrated the 100th year of its T&F program by bringing together many former Wildcats for a function on the school’s Main Line campus. Hosted by Marty Liquori, the list of speakers included John Marshall, Marcus O’Sullivan, the current head Men’s coach, Larry James, Don Paige, Debbie Grant, Ed Collymore, Tom Sullivan, Terrence Mahon, Roberta Anthes, Tosha Woodward, and Ken Schappert.
History
Women: https://villanova.com/sports/2019/11/11/womens-track-field-history
Men: https://villanova.com/sports/2019/10/19/mens-track-field-history
2019—It was another memorable night at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
The first final on the track was the Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles, and it produced the 2nd World Record of the season for American Dalilah Muhammad, who won in 52.16, faster than the 52.20 she had run at the U.S. Championships in July.
Muhammad, the silver medalist at the 2013 and 2017 Worlds (and the 2016 Olympic Champion), held off the late charge of 20-year old teammate Sydney McLaughlin, who ran 52.23, which was faster than the existing WR at the beginning of the season! Winning the bronze medal was Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton (53.74).
Said Muhammad, “I just decided to go for it from the start and I felt Sydney coming at me around hurdle nine. Then I just gave it everything I’d got. It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it feels good.”
McLaughlin added, “I knew it would be fast but I didn’t think it would be that fast. I did everything I could and at least the U.S. got one-two. I gave it everything I had, I’m still young, and every day is a new experience for me.”
With the near-capacity crowd inside Khalifa Stadium still buzzing after watching Muhammad’s WR, their local hero, Mutaz Barshim, gave the fans the thrill they were hoping to see as he cleared 7-9 ¼ (2.37), which turned out to be the winning performance in the Men’s High Jump.
Barshim, who had surgery in 2018 to repair a potential career-ending ankle injury, had been the unofficial “poster boy” of the Championships ever since Doha was named as the host city in 2014, and the pressure for him to do well here was enormous. His win didn’t come easy, since he needed a 3rd-jump clearance at 7-7 ¾ (2.33), which left him in a tie for 3rd place at that point.
Barshim briefly took the lead with his 1st-jump clearance of 7-8 ½ (2.35), but Mikhail Akimenko followed suit, putting him back into 1st place. Fellow Russian Ilya Ivanyuk also cleared on his 1st attempt. After Barshim cleared 7-9 ¼, both Russians missed all 3 of their attempts. Belarus’s Maksim Nedasekau missed twice after missing once at 7-8 ½ before passing to 7-9 ¼. That left Barshim with his 2nd World title, with Akimenko and Ivanyuk, both of whom competed as “Authorized Neutral Athletes because of the ban on the Russian Federation, winning the silver and bronze medals.
“For me, it was just a dream. At home, it was just amazing. Everybody was there, my family, friends, the Emir himself,” said Barshim, who became the first man to win back-to-back world titles in the event.
“I was not one hundred percent ready but when I came here and saw all of those people cheering for me, even if I was dying, if they take me out with a wheelchair or with an ambulance, I would do everything I can.”
In a thrilling finish, Kenya’s Conselsus Kipruto (8:01.35) came from behind in the homestretch to edge Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma (8:01.36) right at the finish line to win his 2nd straight World title in the Men’s Steeplechase. The finish was so close, it took officials a couple of minutes before Kipruto’s name was posted on the scoreboard as the winner, leading to a celebration that included climbing atop one of the steeple barriers to pose for photographers. Finishing 3rd was Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali (8:03.76), who had led with one lap to go.
Kipruto had missed most of the summer season due to a painful foot injury that required him to refrain from running for 2-1/2 months. Determined to be ready to defend his World title in Doha, he built a pool in his backyard that allowed him to exercise his legs. “I said, ‘let me build this pool, let me do [underwater] running and that can make my legs feel strong when I start training. It will not be like beginning’.” He returned to competition in late August, finishing 5th in Paris (8:13.75) and then 7th in Brussels (8:14.53), leaving some to doubt he would be ready to run as well as he did in Doha.
Kipruto’s win extended an amazing streak for Kenyan-born athletes, who have now won the gold medal in the steeplechase at the last 15 World Championships. (Kenyan Stephen Cherono, running as Saif Saaeed Shaheen, represented his adopted country of Qatar when he won in 2003 and 2005). The streak ended in 2022.
The Bahamas’ Steven Gardiner won the Men’s 400-Meters in a swift 43.48, moving him to #6 on the All-Time Performers’ list. Winning silver and bronze were Colombia’s Anthony José Zambrano (44.15), and American Fred Kerley (44.17). Grenada’s Kirani James, the 2011 World and 2012 Olympic champion, showed a nice return to form after battling Graves’ disease in recent years, finishing 5th in 44.54. Favored Michael Norman, who had run 43.45 in April, couldn’t overcome a lingering adductor injury and was eliminated in the semi-final round.
Gardiner’s post-race thoughts were about the people back home in the Bahamas, which had been ravaged by Hurricane Dorian. His grandmother’s wooden house was flattened by the hurricane and his father’s home was also badly damaged. He said , “It’s so big to win two medals (the other being Shaunae Miller-Uibo in the Women’s 400) for the Bahamas after the hurricane. We did it for our country.”
Cuba’s Yaimé Pérez (226-11 [69.17]) won the Women’s Discus over two former World Champions, teammate Denia Caballero (224-6 [68.44]), the winner in 2015, and Croatia’s Sandra Perković (218-11 [66.72]), the winner in 2013 and 2017 (also the 2-time reigning Olympic champion).
The medalists in the Men’s 20k-Walk were Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi (1:26:34), Russia’s Vasiliy Mizinov (1:26:49), and Sweden’s Perseus Karlström (1:27:00).
Medalists/Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_World_Athletics_Championships
Conselsus Kipruto: https://worldathletics.org/news/feature/world-championships-doha-2019-conseslus-kipru
Videos: MHJ(53-Minutes) Winning Jump W400h MSC M400 M20kW(full race)
T&F News Coverage(for subscribers): W400h MSC M400 MHJ WDT M20kW
2020—Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, the World Record holder (2:14:04), was the winner of the Women’s race on a rainy Sunday morning at the 40th Virgin Money London Marathon for the 2nd year in a row, running a quick 2:18:58. 37-year old American Sara Hall, picking off runners in the 2nd half of the race, passed Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich (2:22:05), the 2019 World Champion, in the last 150-meters to finish 2nd with a personal best of 2:22:01. It was the highest finish by an American in London since Deena Kastor won in 2006. (Kastor joined Paul Swangard in calling the race for NBCSN. Amy Cragg replaced Kastor for the Men’s race). Cheering Hall on during the race was her husband Ryan.
The Men’s race didn’t go quite as originally planned. First, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, the 2nd fastest man in history (2:01:41), pulled out with an injury the day before the race, and then World Record holder (2:01:39) Eliud Kipchoge was not a factor in the finish of the race, placing 8th in 2:06:49. It was his first loss in a marathon since 2013.
The winner was Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata (2:05:41), who outsprinted Kenya’s Vincent Kipchumba (2:05:42) in a back-and-forth duel in the final 100-Meters. A close 3rd was Ethiopia’s Sisay Lemma (2:05:45). American Jared Ward finished 17th in 2:12:38.
Due to the pandemic, the races, which were limited to elite runners, were run on a closed loop course inside St.James Park.
Top 10: https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020/10/04/london-marathon-results/
As It Happened: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2020/oct/04/london-marathon-2020-live-updates
Sara Hall(Includes post-race interview):
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a34241725/sara-hall-london-marathon-results-2020/
The Loop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPgULcv5hX4
