by RBR Admin
This Day in Track & Field–May 5
1928—Hermon (aka Herman) Phillips matched Ted Meredith’s World Record of 47.4 for 440-yards in Madison, Wisconsin, but the AAU never ratified the mark. He went on to finish 6th in the 400-meters at the Amsterdam Olympics later in the year.
Phillips won one U.S. and three NCAA (1925-1927) titles in the ¼-mile while competing for Butler College. He coached
at Butler from 1927-37 and then at Purdue from 1937-45.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78895
Two records that were set on this date that were recognized were John Kuck’s 51-2 (15.59/World) in the Shot Put in Los Angeles, and Wilmer Rinehart’s 215-4 (65.63/American) in the Javelin in Evanston(IL).
Kuck would set a World Record of 52-3/4 (15.87) while winning Olympic gold in Amsterdam.
OG Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRhV3W1L3XU
Kansas Sports HOF: https://www.kshof.org/team/john-kuck
1956–The University of Oregon has produced dozens of sub-4-minute milers during its illustrious history, and the first was Australian Jim Bailey, who ran 3:58.6 in a special race during the annual USC-UCLA dual meet at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Almost 40,000 fans cheered as Bailey, who had beaten teammate Bill Dellinger to win the NCAA mile in 1955, overtook world record holder (and fellow Australian) John Landy, to win the race. Bailey became the first man to run a sub-4 minute mile in the U.S.
An early leader in the race was Villanova’s (and Ireland’s) Ron Delany, who would win the gold medal in the 1500-meters at the Melbourne Olympics later in the year, with Landy winning the bronze. Bailey made the Australian team in the 800 and 1500, but was eliminated in the semi-final round of the 800 and never ran the 1500. Said Bailey, “I wasn’t right, mentally or physically”. Delany wound up in 3rd place (4:05.6), followed by Dellinger (4:08.8).
With expectations of another sub-4 minute mile from Landy, the 2nd man to break the magical barrier (after Roger Bannister), the race was shown later in the day on TV after coverage of the Kentucky Derby was completed.
Bailey, who was only in the race to make it more competitive for Landy, was villified by fans in Australia for beating their National hero and making less than conciliatory remarks when he returned home. “They would have excused me if I had been more apologetic about beating Landy and not said the things I did,” he told the Seattle Times’ Blaine Newnham in 2006. “Landy was so popular…. I got death threats for what I’d done, and I was booed at the (Olympic) trials.” Unpopular in his own country, Bailey lived in the state of Washington for decades until his passing in 2020 at the age of 90. “Your country has been kinder to me than mine”, said Bailey. More at:
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20060430&slug=blai30
Race Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGvFEaB4hos
Sub-4 Reunion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgSYvWt6O1k
In-Depth Obituary: https://www.nswathletics.org.au/news/vale-jim-bailey-1956-olympian/
USC won the dual meet over UCLA, despite the Bruins getting 3 wins and a 2nd from Rafer Johnson (100y:9.8, 120h:13.9,
LJ: 25-5 ¾ [7.76+]; 2nd-220y)
1956–Parry O’Brien bettered his own 2-year old World Record in the Shot Put (60-10 [18.54]) with a toss of 61-1 (18.61m) in Salt lake City.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_shot_put_world_record_progression
1956—Competing at home in a dual meet with arch-rival North Carolina, sophomore Dave Sime, who was at Duke on a baseball scholarship, won the 100y in 9.4 and the 220y in 20.3, both times just a tenth of a second off the World Record in each event. He then won the 220y-hurdles (on the straightaway) in 22.2 to break Harrison Dillard’s World Record of 22.3! Oh, and Sime also finished 2nd in the high jump and long jump and 3rd in the discus to help the Blue Devils win the dual meet over the Tar Heels.
A week before this meet, Sime had beaten Abilene Christian’s Bobby Morrow in the 100y at the Drake Relays. Morrow went on to win 3 gold medals (100, 200, 4×100) at the Melbourne Olympics later in the year, but Sime’s Olympic hopes were hampered after he suffered a groin injury during a horseback riding incident during a trip out West, where he was getting ready to compete at the NCAA Championships in Berkeley,CA. He was able to finish 2nd to Morrow in the NCAA 100m, but DNF’d in the 200 after the injury surfaced again.
He went to the U.S. Olympic Trials, but pulled up in the first round of the 100 after just a few strides. He came back four years later to make the 1960 Olympic team in the 100, winning the silver medal in Rome behind Germany’s Armin Hary. His grandson is NFL star Christian McCaffrey!
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210765725
1959–Abilene Christian’s Bill Woodhouse ran 9.3 on his home track to equal the world record for 100-yards.
https://acusports.com/news/2014/1/10/TRACK_0110142222
1961—San Jose State’s Dennis Johnson ran 9.3 for 100-yards in Sunnyvale, California, tying the World Record for the 3rd time in less than 2 months. Johnson passed away in April. 2021 at the age of 81, a victim of Covid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Johnson_(athlete)
1973—Al Feuerbach won the Shot Put at the San Jose Inv. with a toss of 71-7 (21.82m) to break Randy Matson’s 6-year old American and World Record of 71-5 ½ (21.78)
1973–West Germany’s Klaus Wolfermann threw the old javelin 308-8 (94.08) in Leverkusen, Germany, to break Janis Lusis’ World Record (307-9 [93.80]).
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_javelin_world_record_progression
1975 -Herb Washington, a world-class sprinter while at Michigan State, was released by the Oakland A’s baseball team.
Washington was signed by A’s owner Charlie Finley to be used exclusively as a pinch-runner. He played 104 games without batting, pitching, or fielding. He stole 30 bases & scored 33 runs.
Washington was a 2-time NCAA Indoor Champion at 60-yards, won 7 Big-10 sprint titles, was an indoor world record holder at 50- and 60-yards (starting when he was a high school senior), and was a recipient of the NCAA’s Silver Anniversary Award in 1997.
http://www.msuspartans.com/genrel/021907aac.html
http://www.mlive.com/living/flint/index.ssf/2009/02/former_pro_athlete_herb_washin.html
1984—Carol Cady took the American Record in the Hammer Throw, still a relatively new event for women at the time, to another level, first throwing 180-0 (54.86) and then 188-8 (57.52) in Berkeley(CA) to add more than 12 feet to her previous record of 176-0, set just a week earlier. She set 7 American Records, the last of which, 193-4 (58.94), was set in 1985. She also set an American Record of 216-10 (66.10) in the Discus in 1986. She’s still #8 on the All-Time U.S. list in that event.
A 2-time U.S. Olympian, Cady was 7th in the Shot Put in 1984, 11th in the Discus in 1988.
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77780
1985—Just as Carol Cady did the year before, Jud Logan twice improved his week-old American Record in the Hammer with throws of 252-3 (76.90) and 253-5 (77.24). (His previous mark of 76.88 also converted to 252-3).
Logan set a total of 10 American Records during his career, finishing off with a best of 268-8(81.88) in 1988.
He passed away in early 2022 after a long-time stint as the head coach at Ashland University.
1991—18-year old Kareem Streete-Thompson, a freshman at Rice, long-jumped a wind-aided 27-6 ¾ (8.40/+3.2) in Houston. That’s still the longest jump in history, under any conditions, among World Juniors. He would win the NCAA title in 1995. He’s currently an Associate Head Coach at UT-San Antonio
2017—Germany’s Thomas Röhler, the 2016 Olympic Champion in the event, threw the Javelin 308-1 (93.90) at the Diamond League meet in Doha to set a National Record and move into 2nd place on the All-Time World list. Countryman Johannes Vetter would jump ahead of Rohler (and take away the NR) 2-months later when he threw 309-10 (94.44). Vetter strengthened his hold on the #2 position (and scared Jan Železný’s WR) when he threw 320-9 (97.76) in 2020!
Rohler uses Disc Golf as part of his training for the javelin!
https://www.discmania.net/blogs/discover/disc-golf-olympic-javelin-champion-thomas-rohler
All-Time World List (Performers) 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
93.90 | 308-1 Thomas Röhler (Germany) 5/05/17
93.09 | 305-5 Aki Parviainen (Finland) 6/26/99
93.07 | 305-4 Anderson Peters (Grenada) 5/13/22
92.97 | 305-0 Arshad Nadeem (Pakistan) 8/08/24
92.72 | 304-2 Julius Yego (Kenya) 8/26/15
92.61 | 303-10 Sergey Makarov (Russia) 6/30/02
92.60 | 303-10 Raymond Hecht (Germany) 7/21/95
92.06 | 302-0 Andreas Hoffman (Germany) 6/02/18
2018—Senior Mondo Duplantis (Lafayette,LA) continued to take the U.S. High School Record in the Pole Vault to new heights (pun intended), clearing 19-5 ½ (5.90) in Baton Rouge. He put the record out of reach for the next few generations of prep vaulters when he cleared 19-10 ¼ (6.05) while winning at the European Championships in August.
Born On This Day*
Francine Niyonsaba-Burundi 32 (1993) 2-time World Indoor Champion-800m
Silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics and 2017 World Championships
5th in the 800 at the 2012 Olympics, 5th in the 10,000 in 2021
Set a World Record of 5:21.56 for 2000-meters in 2021 (since broken)
PBs: 53.48 (2018), 1:23.18 (2017/#8 All-Time), 1:55.47 (2017), 5:21.56 (2021/#2 A-T),
8:19.08 (2021/# A-T), 8:59.08/2m (2022/#2 A-T),14:25.34 (2021), 30:41.93 (2021), 1:08.45 (2023)
From Wikipedia: In 2019, World Athletics announced that Niyonsaba would not be allowed to compete under the
female classification in events between 400 metres and one mile due to its regulations on XY DSD athletes with
naturally high testosterone levels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francine_Niyonsaba
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/burundi/francine-niyonsaba-14532686
Keep Looking Forward:
https://www.africanews.com/2021/09/08/keep-looking-forward-says-niyonsaba-barred-from-800m//
WR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f9TK641424
Meb Keflezighi 50 (1975) 2004 Olympic silver medalist—Marathon (4th-2012); Winner NY City(2009) and
Boston (2014) marathons.
His emotional win in Boston in 2014, the first by an American since 1983, came a year after the bombings at the
finish line.
Finished 2nd at the U.S. Marathon Trials in 2016 to qualify for his 4th Olympic team—was 33rd in Rio; was 12th in the
10,000 at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
1997 NCAA Champion—5000 and 10,000 (UCLA); 1997 NCAA Indoor Champion-5000
Former American Record holder—10,000 (27:13.98-’01);
Other PBs: 13:11.77-’00), 2:08:37 (’14);
http://www.runnersworld.com/olympic-trials/meb-is-magnificent-in-we-think-his-final-olympic-trials
http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/meb-keflezighi
Run To Overcome: http://www.runtoovercome.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Meb-Keflezighi/e/B00419KI0I
Boston-’14: https://www.runnersworld.com/races-places/a20851211/meb-wins-the-boston-marathon/
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meb_Keflezighi
Michelle Freeman—Jamaica 56 (1969) 1997 World Indoor Champion—60-meter hurdles (2nd-2001)
1996 Olympic bronze medalist—4×100 (6th in the 100-meter hurdles)
Bronze medalist—1997 World Championships (100-meter hurdles); PBs: 7.74, 12.52 (’88)
1992 NCAA Champion—100-meter hurdles(Florida)
1994 Commonwealth Games Champion…Former coach at UCLA, Virginia, and Oklahoma
Driver of the car that spun out of control and crashed in 2002, resulting in the death of her
mother and her good friend and fellow Jamaican Ilrey Oliver, a 1984 Olympian (400).
Texas coach Bev Kearney, who coached Freeman at Florida, was seriously injured in the crash.
www.nytimes.com/2002/12/27/sports/plus-track-and-field-texas-coach-injured-in-car-accident.html
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/michelle-freeman-devastation-and-tragedy-bu
http://office.biggerfasterstronger.com/p_magPrint_NoMember.asp?id=336
Steve Scott 69 (1956) 6-time U.S. Champion—1500m (’77-’79, ’82,’83,’86)
Silver medalist 1983 World Championships—1500m (12th in 1987);
2-time Olympic finalist (1984-10th, 1988-5th)
American Record holder in the Mile for 28 years (3:51.11-’79, 3:49.68-’81, 3:49.53-’82,
3:47.69/1982-2007); Set two American Records in the 1500 (3:31.96-’81, 3:31.76-
’85); Also set AR at 2000-meters (4:54.71-1982) and 3000-meters (7:36.69-1981);
Ran 137 sub-4 minute miles; Inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame in 2002
Had been the head coach at Cal State San Marcos since 1999…retired at the
end of the 2018 season
Founder of the popular Carlsbad 5k road race
HOF Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/steve-scott
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Scott_(athlete)
http://csusmcougars.com/coaches.aspx?rc=396&path=mtrack
1983 Dream Mile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEwMeRek8b4
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/specials/olympics/cntdown/0514oly-run-scott.html
The Miler:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Miler-Americas-Legendary-Triumphs/dp/0028616774
