by RBR Admin
This Day in Track & Field–February 4
1926–Running before 16,000 fans at Madison Square Garden, James J. Connolly won the first Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in NY (4:17.2). In the ten previous editions of the meet, the event was conducted at 1-1/2 miles.
The star of the show, though, was Norway’s Charles Hoff, who set the first of his eleven World Indoor Records in the Pole Vault with his clearance of 13-1 (3.99).
Hoff showed his versatility by also finishing 3rd in the 600y, a star-studded race won by Alan Helffrich in 1:12.7. Johnny Gibson was 2nd, Canada’s Allen Christie 4th, and Adriaan Paulen 5th. Hoff was a 1924 Olympian, but only competed in the 400 and 800 (8th) in Paris! He was also entered in the Pole Vault, Long Jump, and Decathlon, but didn’t compete in those events.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hoff
Helffrich was a gold medalist in the 4×400 relay at the 1924 Olympics and was a 2-time NCAA ½-mile champion(1922-
1923) while at Penn State. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Helffrich
Gibson, a 1928 Olympian in the 400-meter hurdles(and world record holder in the event, went on to become the
coach at Seton Hall for more than 25 years, and, like Helfrrich, was a long-time official in the NY Metropolitan area.
NY Times Obituary: http://tinyurl.com/JohnGibsonObit
Paulen was a 3-time Dutch Olympian who went on to become the president of the IAAF from 1976-1981.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriaan_Paulen; http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/the-past-presidents-of-the-iaaf
Other winners included Loren Murchison in the Men’s 40y (4.6), 60y (6.3), and 300y (32.1), and Rosa Grosse in the Women’s 50y (6.4). Murchison’s 3 wins gave him a record total of 14 at Millrose,
Murchison’s Wins
1919—70y Inv., 70y-Handicap
1921—70y
1922—50y, 60y
1923—60y, 300y
1924—60y, 300y
1925—50y, 60y
1926—40y, 60y, 300y
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1926/02/05/101679096.html?pageNumber=15
1933–Kansas sophomore Glenn Cunningham (4:13.0) won the 1st of his 6 Wanamaker Miles in front of a Madison Square Garden record crowd of 17,000 fans. 8 yards back in 2nd was the previous year’s winner, Gene Venzke, the World Indoor Record holder.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/02/05/119089959.html?pageNumber=103
1939–Six years to the day after winning his 1st Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, Glenn Cunningham fought off a challenge from Chuck Fenske to extend his record win total in the event to 6. That would remain the standard until Eamonn Coghlan won his 7th Wanamaker Mile in 1987. The meet drew another big crowd—16,000.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/02/05/91551092.html?pageNumber=116
Results: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/02/05/91551155.html?pageNumber=120
1956—They would have to wait 9 months, but five winners at this year’s Millrose Games would go on to win Olympic gold in Melbourne, Australia.
600y–Charlie Jenkins (1:11.2)…(won gold in the 400 and 4×400)
880y—Tom Courtney (1:53.2)…(won gold in the 800 and 4×400)
Wanamaker Mile—Ireland’s Ron Delany (4:09.5) won the 1st of his 4 Wanamaker Miles (1500)
60y-hurdles—Lee Calhoun (7.3)…(110m-hurdles)
Pole Vault—Bob Richards (15-4 [4.675]) won for the 10th year in a row. Would win once more in 1957…(PV)
(Attendance-14,000)
NY Times Coverage (For Subscribers)
1978–Directors of the U.S. Olympic Inv. had previously been conducting their sprint and hurdles events at the distance of 50-meters. They felt that was too short a race, but 60-meters was a tad too long for the confines of Madison Square Garden. A compromise was reached and the 55-meter distance (5+-inches longer than 60-yards) was born. The first winners at the new distance were sprinter Harvey Glance (6.2) and hurdlers Renaldo Nehemiah (7.2) and East Germany’s Johanna Klier (7.4), the 1976 Olympic Champion in the 100-meter hurdles.
1983—Billy Olson became the first man to vault 19-feet indoors, clearing 19-1/4 (5.80) on his 3rd attempt at the Star-Maple Leaf Games in Toronto.
Olson was almost denied a chance at history after bailing out on his first attempt and coming dangerously close to missing the landing pit. “I was scared to death,” Olson said later. “I figured, two broken legs.”
It was the 7th World Indoor Record in a year for Olson, the first of which took place on the same fast runway in Toronto.
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/02/14/one-flies-high-one-just-flies
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_indoor_world_record_progression
1989–Russia’s Rodion Gataullin raised his own World Indoor Record in the Pole Vault by 1/2-inch to 19-9 (6.02) in Gomel, Belarus. Sergey Bubka would jump 19-9 ¼ (6.03) a week later and held the record (with a best of 20-2/ [6.15]) for 25 years until France’s Renaud Lavillenie cleared 20-2 ½ (6.16) in 2014
1994–Three Irishmen were miling at the Millrose Games, but only one was smiling at the conclusion of the meet. Marcus O’Sullivan was one stride away from winning the Wanamaker Mile for the 6th time, but was passed right at the finish by fellow Irishman Niall Bruton (3:58.71), a senior at Arkansas. 41-year old Eamonn Coghlan, a 7-time winner of the Wanamaker Mile, won the Masters Mile in his final race at Madison Square Garden, but was disappointed with his time of 4:04.55 (he was hoping to break 4-minutes, a goal he reached 2 weeks later when he ran 3:58.15 at Harvard).
“When I passed Marcus at the end,” said Bruton, “I was kind of embarrassed. I had grown up admiring Marcus and Eamonn and so many other Irish runners, and I kind of apologized to Marcus after the race.”
Said Coghlan of his win, “It’s an honor, and I’m embarrassed, too. The crowd was fantastic, especially in the last quarter. I felt a little disappointed I couldn’t run faster in my final race in the Garden. After the first quarter, I felt good, but then my legs started feeling heavy and I felt real flat. The track didn’t give me anything back. It felt lifeless.”
40-year old Dwight Stones, a 3-time winner of the Invitational High Jump at Millrose, was hoping to clear 7-feet, but had to settle for a Masters World Record of 6-8 ¼.
Not all was lost for the “old guys”, as 35-year old Greg Foster won the Men’s hurdles for a record 10th-time, 14 years after his 1st win in 1980! It was a return to action for Foster, who had received many gifts, including a rocking chair, during a “farewell tour” in 1993!
Videos: Wanamaker Mile 60-Hurdles Masters Mile Other Events
1996-Haile Gebrselassie set a World Record of 7:30.72 for 3000-meters in Stuttgart.
2000–37-year old Joetta Clark-Diggs (2:04.79) bid farewell to the Millrose Games with her 7th win in the Women’s 800-meters, 15 years after winning for the 1st time in 1985! It was her 22nd appearance at Millrose, first competing when she was only 14 years old. 3rd in tonight’s race was her sister Hazel (2:04.92), who would become a 3-time winner of the event (2003-2005).
Another oldie-but-goodie was 39-year old Johnny Gray (1:49.88), winner of the Men’s 800 for the 4th time.
Maurice Greene set a Meet Record of 6.45 in the Men’s 60-Meters
Former Providence star Mark Carroll continued the rich Irish tradition in the Wanamaker Mile, winning in 3:58.19, and Regina Jacobs won the Women’s Mile in 4:24.04, the fastest time at Millrose in 11 years.
Results(top-3): https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/millrose-games-results
Video(Men’s 60—includes an interview with Michael Johnson): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwxTM_u4n2g
2005-The latest track at Madison Square Garden was not known for yielding fast times, but no one told Bernard Lagat. Confident that he would have no trouble winning his 3rd Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, and with an eye on the beautiful Waterford Crystal trophy that went to the meet’s Outstanding Performer, Lagat set his sights on Eamonn Coghlan’s 24-year old hand-timed meet record of 3:53.0.
A quick 55.8 first-quarter split by pacer Elkanah Angwenyi left Lagat well ahead of Laban Rotich, who had beaten Lagat the previous week in Boston, and Alan Webb, who was making his long-anticipated Millrose debut. Lagat followed Angwenyi closely through the 1/2-way point (1:54.3-1:54.5) and was all alone as he went through the 3/4-split in 2:52.8.
Needing a 60.1 final 1/4 to break Coghlan’s record, Lagat did just that to close out his 3:52.87 winning performance. He also took down Noureddine Morceli’s Madison Square Garden Record of 3:52.99, set at the U.S. Indoor Nationals in 1991. Rotich finished a distant 2nd in 4:00.33, with Webb in 3rd at 4:00.91.
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/05/sports/othersports/05millrose.html?fta=y&_r=0
Results: http://www.flashresults.com/2005_Meets/indoor/millrose/index.htm
Wanamaker Mile Winners: http://www.runningpast.com/wanamaker_mile.htm
2006–Sweden’s Kajsa Bergqvist cleared 6-9 ¾ (2.08) in the High Jump in Arnstadt, Germany, to break the 14-year old World Indoor Record of 6-9 ½ (2.07), which was set by Germany’s Heike Henkel in 1992. Henkel was there to congratulate Bergqvist in person!
Bergqvist, who won two NCAA titles while attending Southern Methodist University, was locked in a duel at lower heights with Croatia’s Blanka Vlašić (6-7 [2.01]). She secured the win when she matched her personal best of 6-8 (2.03) on her first attempt. She then jumped 6-8 ¾ (2.05) on her 2nd attempt before setting the record on her first try.
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4fRDbevHTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZJqgHCX7MQ
IAAF Report: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/208-world-record-for-bergqvist-in-arnstadt
2012––A week after no-heighting at the U.S. Open at Madison Square Garden, Jenn Suhr raised her American Record in the Pole Vault by clearing 16-feet even (4.88) at the New Balance Indoor Games at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury,MA.
Meet Results: https://www.nbindoorgrandprix.com/meet-info/history/history-2012/
2012—Strymar Livingston (Columbus,NY) ran 1:17.58 for 600-meters at NY’s Armory to better his own year-old National H.S. Record of 1:17.64. He held the record for 10 years until Will Sumner (Woodstock,GA) ran 1:15.58 in 2022.
2017—Two National H.S. Records were set at the Armory Track Invitational in NY.
Finishing 3rd in a race won by Ajee’ Wilson (1:24.48), senior Sammy Watson (Rush-Henrietta,NY) ran 1:27.13 to break her own mark of 1:28.67, which had been set earlier in the season.
The 2nd mark fell to Tyrese Cooper (Norland,FL), who finished 2nd to Lalonde Gordon (32.37) in the 300-meters with a time of 32.87, topping his own record of 33.03 that had been set 3 weeks earlier. Cooper’s time was also a World Junior Record.
Results: https://www.armorytrack.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45586&do=news&news_id=456524
2017—Junior Armand “Mondo” Duplantis raised his National H.S. Record in the Pole Vault to 18-9 ¼ (5.72) in Baton Rouge. He also set new World and American Junior records with his clearance. (Even though he represents Sweden in international competition, he was eligible at the time to establish American Records, since the Louisiana native had dual-citizenship. The rule was changed in December, 2018—now, only athletes eligible to represent the U.S. internationally can set American Records).
2022—Chris Nilsen, the silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, cleared 19-9 (6.02) at the vault-only competition in Tourcoing, France, to break the American Record of 19-8 ½ (6.01) that was set by Sam Kendricks in 2020. He would raise the record to 19-10 ¼ (6.05) a month later.
2023—The Netherlands’ Femke Bol, one of the world’s best 400-meter hurdlers, got the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Brighton (MA) off to a rousing start by setting a World Indoor Record of 1:05.63 for 500-meters. It was the first major meet to be held at “The TRACK at New Balance”. The previous record of 1:06.31 was set by Russia’s Olesya Forsheva in 2006. (The 500m is not an official WR event).
Race/Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5psU3KfVk
https://results.nbindoorgrandprix.com/2023/
https://thetrackatnewbalance.com
Significant Birthdays
Born On This Day*
Ekateríni (Katerina) Stefanídi—Greece 35 (1990) Gold medalist in the Pole Vault at the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World
Championships (bronze in 2019); 4th at the 2021 Olympics, 5th at the 2022 World Championships;
no-heighted in the qualifying round at the 2023 World Championships, 9th at the 2024 Olympics
2012 NCAA Champion (Stanford/2010-4th, 2011-3rd); bronze medalist at the 2016 and 2018
World Indoor Championships; 2-time European Champion (2016, 2018)
2005 World Youth Champion;
PB: 16-1 ¼ (4.91/2017), 16-3/4i (4.90/2016); 2024 SB: 15-6 ¼ (4.73);
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekaterini_Stefanidi
2016 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPaUgaBor2I
2017 WC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84LrxcvsCic
Paul Gompers 61 (1964) 4th—1988 U.S. Olympic Trials-Marathon;
Set a World Junior Record of 2:15:28 in 1983 (debut at the distance); PB: 2:11:38 (1987)
Currently a professor at Harvard Business School
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6463
(1986): http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1986/11/7/streaking-toward-excellence-pthree-years-ago/
Robert Weir—Great Britain 64 (1961) 1983 NCAA Champion—Hammer (SMU/2nd-1981, 1982); 7th in the Discus in 1984
2-time NCAA Champion—Weight Throw (1981,1983)
1984 Olympic finalist—Discus (10th), Hammer (8th); competed in the qualifying round of the Discus at the 1996
and 2000 Olympics
1998 Commonwealth Games Champion-Discus
Competed in the Discus at 5 World Championships (’93-qual., ’95-9th, ’97-8th, ’99-qual., ’01-qual.)
PBs: 77-6 ¾ (23.64 [1983]), 213-06 (65.08 [2003]), 246-04 (75.08 [2002])
Currently an assistant coach at Missouri…previously coached at Weber State, Clemson, Hawaii, Oregon
https://mutigers.com/sports/mens-track-and-field/roster/coaches/robert-weir/2037
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/69576
Julie Brown 70 (1955) 1975 World X-Country Champion; 1984 Olympian-Marathon (36th)
Former American Record holder in the Marathon–2:36:23 (1978)
6-time U.S. Champion: 1500 (1975), 3000 (1980), X-Country (1978,1981), Marathon (1976,1983)
4-time AIAW (pre-NCAA) Champion: 1975-UCLA (Mile, 2-mile), 1977-CS-Northridge (800, 2-mile)
PBs:2:00.8h (1977), 4:06.4h (1979), 8:58.3h/3k (1979), 15:42.72 (1984), 2:26:26 (1983)
’84 Trials: http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/finally-one-for-the-girls
http://www.rrca.org/about/history/hall-of-fame/1990/
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Brown_(athlete)
Casey Carrigan 74 (1951) Made the 1968 U.S. Olympic team as a 17-year old H.S. junior (Pole Vault/didn’t make
the final in Mexico City)
Held the U.S. High School Record of 17-4 ¾ (5.30+) from 1969 to 1980
Inspired by his brothers, he started vaulting at the age of 7 in the family’s backyard pit
Inducted into the National H.S. T&F Hall of Fame in 2019
(2004) http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Where-Are-They-Now-Casey-Carrigan-1143362.php
https://vault.si.com/vault/1969/06/23/rightway-carrigan-flies-to-a-record
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78206
H.S. HOF
http://nationalhighschooltrackandfieldhof.org/casey-carrigan/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXXOkTS5xsk
https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=13078&do=videos&video_id=270026
