This Day in Track & Field, May 25, Wille Ritola breaks Nurmi's 10,000m WR (1935), Jesse Owens sets 6 WRs in one hour (1935), the first Bruce Jenner Classic (1985), photo by Walt Murphy

Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)

All Diamond Leagues are equal but some are more equal than others

Coffee with Larry, June 11, 2025, Some thoughts on Rome, Oslo Diamond League

This Day in Track & Field, June 12, Walter Tewksbury was first American to break 11 seconds (1900), Kjell Isaksson sets PV WR (1972), written by Walt Murphy

This Day in Track & Field–May 25

1912-Competing on his home field, Harvard’s Ted Cable won the first of his two IC4A titles in the Hammer Throw (162-4 [49.47]). Cable was 3^rd in the Long Jump at the Eastern Olympic Trials (3^rd best mark of the three Trials meets/22-11 ½) and had the 4^th best mark in the Hammer/157-8 [48.05]), but was not selected for the U.S. Olympic team.

Described by Arthur Ashe in his book Hard Road To Glory, “black America’s first star in field events.”

https://hepstrack.wordpress.com/alumni/harvard/ted-cable/

1935—Ville “Willie” Ritola ran 30:35.4 for 10,000-meters in Helsinki to break the World Record of 30:40.2 that was set by fellow Finn Paavo Nurmi in 1921.

Ville Ritola, Paavo Nurmi, photo by Olympic.org

1935–One of the greatest days in T&F history. Ohio State’s Jesse Owens set a total of six World Records in 4 events in less than an hour at the Big-10 Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His big day went like this:

3:15 Wins 100-yard dash in 9.4

3:25 Only 10-minutes later, he sets a World Record of 26-8 ¼ (8.13) in his only effort in the Long Jump, a mark that

would last for 25 years.

3:45 Gets two for one as his 20.3 for 220-yards on the straight was also a new mark for 200-Meters

4:00 Another double-header, his 22.6 setting new marks for the 200m/220y-hurdles on the Straight

Remarkably, Owens had fallen down a flight of stairs the night before and had to persuade his coach, Larry Snyder, to let him compete the next day!

Related links:

Official Jesse Owens site: http://www.jesseowens.com/

ESPN: http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016393.html

Jesse Owens Museum: http://www.jesseowensmuseum.org/

Hellen Stephens, Jesse Owens, 1936 Olympics, photo by William Woods College Echoes

1963–It was an era during which the big meets on the West Coast often produced World Records, and this year’s California Relays in Modesto did its part to uphold that reputation, although two of the “records” were never ratified by the IAAF. The one mark that did stand up to scrutiny was the 2-mile relay, where Oregon State, coached by Sam Bell (who went on to a long career at Indiana), ran 7:18.9 (ratified as 7:19.0). The lineup of Jan Underwood (1:50.2), Jerry Brady (1:52.2), Norm Hoffman (1:48.4) and Morgan Groth (1:48.2) bettered the previous mark of 7:19.4, which had been set by a U.S. team in 1960.

While Groth was still on his first lap, Brian Sternberg cleared 16-7 (5.05+) for an apparent World Record in the Pole Vault, but the crossbar extended 6” beyond the legal limit and the mark was never accepted. Sternberg had set the existing record of 16-4 ¾ (5.00) the previous month at the Penn Relays.

The most controversial “record” came in the Long Jump. Phil Shinnick, a relatively unknown sophomore at the University of Washington (and a teammate/roommate of Sternberg’s), had jumped 25-5 (7.74+) the previous week, but had failed to make the final of the “Big Six” meet on the afternoon of the 25th. He talked his way into the evening’s invitational meet and proceeded to jump a mind-boggling 27-4 (8.33), which was better than Soviet Igor Ter-Ovanesyan’s World Record of 27-3 ¼ (8.31). The problem was that the wind-gauge operator had reportedly been instructed to only take readings for former record holder Ralph Boston, who finished 2nd here with wind-aided marks of 27-1/4 (8.23+) and

27-2 ¾ (8.30). With no wind reading, the IAAF couldn’t accept the mark.

Many years later, Shinnick, who went on to make the U.S. Olympic team in 1964 and jumped a legal 26-9 ¼ (8.16) in 1968, led a campaign (backed by Boston, among others) to have the mark recognized, despite the fact that many observers, including T&F News co-founder Cordner Nelson, who covered the meet for the magazine, felt that the mark was wind-aided. (To be fair, there were others who thought the swirling winds had calmed down during Shinnick’s big jump). Surprisingly, USATF, ignoring the recommendation of its own Records Committee, retroactively recognized Shinnick’s mark as an American Record at its annual meeting in 2003, and submitted a World Record application to the IAAF, which again rejected the mark.

Update: Surprisingly, the Court of Arbitration For Sport (CAS) ruled in 2021 in Shinnick’s favor, telling World Athletics it should recognize him as the holder of the World Long Jump Record from May 25, 1963 to September 12, 1964. Shinnick was presented with an official WR plaque by current record holder Mike Powell at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene.

https://www.si.com/college/washington/legends/phil-shinnick-gets-his-long-jump-record-58-years-later

Other highlights of the meet: New Zealand’s Peter Snell, looking like a sprinter in the final 1/2-lap, ran away from Americans Cary Weisiger (3:57.3), Jim Beatty (3:58.0) and Jim Grelle (3:58.0) to win the Mile in an eased-up 3:54.9, which was just short of his year-old world record of 3:54.4; Bob Hayes won the 100-yard dash in 9.3 and ran a great anchor leg to give Florida A&M the win in the 440-yard relay.

Snell Foils Mihaly Igloi’s Plan in the Mile:

https://vault.si.com/vault/1963/06/03/how-a-man-of-spirit-wrecked-iglois-computer

Another World Record was set on the same day at the Western Athletic Conference meet in Tempe, Arizona. New Mexico’s Adolph Plummer won the 440-yard dash in 44.9 to smash Glenn Davis’s previous mark of 45.7. He also tied the 400-meter mark of 44.9, which was set by Otis Davis and Germany’s Carl Kaufmann in the 1960 Olympic final. Arizona State’s Ulis Williams also bettered Davis’s mark with his 45.6 in 2nd place and his teammate, Henry Carr, who would win the 200 at the 1964 Olympics, won the 100y (9.3) and 220y (20.5).

http://onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com/2013/03/june-1963-and-new-440-wr-by-adolph.html

1968—Jay Silvester regained the World Record in the Discus with his throw of 218-4 (ratified as 66.54) at the California Relays in Modesto, California. Silvester had set two records in 1961 (198-8 [60.56]/199-2 [60.72]), but then Al Oerter raised the standard to 200-5 (61.10) in 1962. The record was raised six more times in the ensuing years, topped by Czech Ludvík Daněk’s 1965 mark of 214-0 (65.22).

Washington State’s Gerry Lindgren outdueled World Record holder Ron Clarke (13:35.8) to win the 5000-meters, running 13:33.8 to break his own American Record of 13:38.0.

1980–Poland’s Jacek Wszoła cleared 7-8 ½ (2.35) to set a World Record at the High Jump-only competition in Eberstadt, Germany. Tied for second at 7-6 (2.29) were Germans Dietmar Mögenburg and Carlo Thränhardt, both future record-holders themselves. In fact, Mögenburg equaled Wszoła’s mark the very next day in Rehlingen, Gemany.

It would take Thränhardt seven years to stake his claim as a record holder, setting an Indoor mark of 7-10 ½ (2.40) in Simmerath, Germany, on January 16, 1987 (Breaking Mögenburg’s mark of 7-10 [2.39]).

WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_high_jump_world_record_progression

1985—The first IAAF Mobil Grand Prix meet took place at the Bruce Jenner Classic in San Jose, California. It was the first of sixteen meets in which athletes would accumulate points during the season, with final placings (and prize money) determined at the GP Final in Rome on September 7. (The Indoor version began in 1982)

Among the highlights of the meet:

Steve Scott (3:56.5) ran the 100^th Sub-4 mile of his career, edging Ray Flynn (3:56.8) for the win, with Mike

Boit (3:57.7) finishing 4^th and Sydney Maree (3:58.0) 6^th.

Johnny Gray (1:45.76) won the 800 over 1984 Olympic champion Joaquim Cruz (1:45.89).

World Record holders Stefka Kostadinova (HJ/6-4 ¾ [1.94]) and Jarmila Kratochvílová (800/1:59.92) won

their specialties.

Doug Padilla (7:48.07), winner of the Men’s 3000, went on to become the 1^st Men’s Overall GP winner, winning a

total of $35,000 ($25k for the Overall win, $10k for the event win [3000/5000]).

From T&F News

1985—Jim Howard cleared 7-8 ½ (2.35) in Houston, Texas, to set an American Record in the High Jump. The previous mark of 7-8 (2.34) had been shared by Dwight Stones (1984) and Dennis Lewis (1985). Except for a 10-month period when Tyke Peacock held sole possession of the record, Stones had been the holder or co-holder of the National mark since 1973.

1996—Jumping in front of a sparse crowd, Tennessee senior Lawrence Johnson vaulted 19-7 ½ (5.98) in Knoxville,Tennessee, to break Scott Huffman’s American Record in the Pole Vault (19-7 [5.97m]).

LoJo could often be found playing the piano (very well) in hotel lobbies when he joined the professional circuit.

NY Times (for subscribers)

1996–Czech Jan Železný set his 5^th and final (and current) World Record in the Javelin with his monster throw of

323-1 (98.48) in Jena, Germany.

Considered by many to be the greatest javelin thrower in history, Železný won three Olympic (92-96-00) and three World Championship (93-95-01) titles.

Long after winning his last global title, he still has five of the ten longest throws in history (with the current implement):

(From T&F News)

98.48 | 323-1 Jan Železný (Czech Republic) 5/25/96

97.76 | 320-9 Johannes Vetter (Germany) 9/06/20

96.29 | 315-11 ————Vetter 5/29/21

95.66 | 313-10 ————Železný 8/29/93

95.54 | 313-5 ————Železný 4/06/93

95.34 | 312-9 ————Železný ! 8/29/93

94.84 | 311-2 ————Vetter ! 9/06/20

94.64 | 310-6 ————Železný 5/31/96

94.44 | 309-10 ————Vetter 7/11/17

94.24 | 309-2 ————Vetter ! 5/29/21

WR Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6P9WbTPeLA

Career: https://javelinthrowmagazine.wordpress.com/jan-zelezny-his-results-bible/

Tribute Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2mHcNWyr9U

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Železný

1997–Tom Pukstys set the 6th American Record of his career, throwing the Javelin 285-10 (87.12) in Jena, Germany.

2014—As reported yesterday, three World and three American Records were set at the inaugural World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas.

May 24

Men’s 4×800—1.Kenya 7:08.40 (Ferguson Cheruiyot 1:46.0, Sammy Kirongo 1:45.7, Job Kinyor 1:47.9, Alfred Kipketer

1:47.8), 2.Poland 7:08.69, 3.U.S. 7:09.06 (Michael Rutt 1:48.6, Robby Andrews 1:47.2, Brandon Johnson 1:48.1,

Duane Solomon 1:45.2)

Women’s 4×1500–1. Kenya 16:33.58 WR (Prev. 17:05.72 Kenya ’14) (Mercy Cherono 4:07.5, Faith Kipyegon 4:08.5,

Irene Jelagat 4:10.5, Hellen Obiri 4:07.1), 2. United States 16:55.33 American Record (Prev. 17:08.34 Tennessee

’09) (Heather Kampf 4:09.2, Katie Mackey 4:19.4, Kate Grace 4:16.3, Brenda Martinez 4:10.4);

Men’s 4×200—Jamaica set a World Record of 1:18.63, breaking the previous mark of 1:18.68, set by the Santa Monica

T.C. in 1994. (Nickel Ashmeade, Warren Weir, Jermaine Brown, Yohan Blake)…U.S. disqualified for an exchange

violation

Women’s 4×100—1.U.S. 41.88 (Tianna Madison, Alex Anderson, Jeneba Tarmoh, Lekeisha Lawson), 2.Jamaica 42.28;

May 25

Women’s 4×400—1.U.S. 3:21.73 (Deedee Trotter 50.7, Sanya Richards-Ross 50.4, Natasha Hastings 50.0, Joanna Atkins

50.6), 2.Jamaica 3:23.26

Men’s 4×1500—Getting sub-3:33 legs from Silas Kiplagat and Asbel Kiprop, Kenya ran away from the U.S. on its way to

setting a World Record of 14:22.22. The U.S. came away with a National record of 14:40.80.

1.Kenya 14:22.22 WR (old WR 14:36.23 Kenya’ 09) (Collins Cheboi 3:38.6, Silas Kiplagat 3:32.5, James Magut 3:38.8, Asbel Kiprop 3:32.3, 2. United States 14:40.80 AR (old AR 14:46.3 National Team ’79) (Pat Casey 3:38.2, David Torrence 3:36.6, Will Leer 3:39.3, Leo Manzano 3:46.7)