by Larry Eder
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–July 10
1880–Lon Myers took almost two seconds off his American Record in the 880y (2:01.4) with his winning time of 1:59.5 in New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Myers
1912–With five men still in contention coming off the final turn in Stockholm, this would be hailed as the first great Olympic 1500-meter final. Great Britain’s Arnold Jackson (3:56.8-OR) emerged as the winner over the American trio of Abel Kiviat (3:56.9), who had set a World Record of 3:55-4/5 at the U.S. Trials, Norm Taber (3:56.9), and John Paul Jones (3:57.2). Finishing a close 5th was Sweden’s Ernst Wide (3:57.6).
Running his 4th distance race in 4 days, 10,000 winner Hannes Kolehmainen of Finland won his 2nd gold medal of the Games by taking a hard-fought 5000-meters in the World Record time of 14:36.6. Kolehmainen had to chase down France’s Jean Bouin (14:36.7) in the final 20-meters to secure the win. 3rd was Great Britain’s George Hutson (15:07.6).
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5000_metres
Olympedia Bios: Kolehmainen Jackson Taber Jones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannes_Kolehmainen
American Ralph Rose (15.25 [50-1/2]) appeared to be on his way to winning his 3rd gold medal in the Shot Put, but teammate Pat McDonald came through in the 4th round with a personal best of 50-4 (15.34) to come away with the win. A U.S. sweep was completed by Lawrence Whitney (45-8 ½ [13.93]). Rose later beat McDonald to win the “Both Hands” Shot Put (7-11) with a total distance of 90.10 (27.70).
Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1912_Summer_Olympics
1924 (Updated)–Paavo Nurmi won the 1500 in 3:53.6 and edged fellow Finn Ville “Willie” Ritola to win the 5000 (14:31.2-14:31.4) at the 1924 Olympics in Paris.
Lee Barnes won the Pole Vault on fewer misses over U.S. teammate Glenn Graham, with both clearing 12-11 ½ (3.95). James Brooker completed the American sweep with his 3rd-place finish (12-9 ½).
The U.S. got a 1-2 finish in the Hammer Throw from Fred Tootell (174-10 [53.295]) and 47-year old Matt McGrath (166-9 [50.84]), the defending champion. Winning the bronze was Great Britain’s Malcolm Nokes (160-4 [48.875])
Other medalists
1500-Switzerland’s Willy Schärer (3:55.0), Great Britain’s H.B. Stallard (3:55.6)
5000-Sweden’s Edvin Wide (15:01.8)
Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1924_Summer_Olympics
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/67728
1942–Arne Andersson ran 4:06.2 for the Mile in Stockholm to equal the World Record that had been set by fellow Swede Gunder Hägg just 9 days earlier.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_run_world_record_progression
http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=126
Andersson Obituary(2009)
1948–Mel Patton edged Barney Ewell in the 200-meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Evanston,IL, as both were credited with matching Jesse Owens’ World “Best” of 20.7.(the IAAF didn’t recognize 200 records on a turn until 1951). The order of finish was reversed in the previous day’s 100-meters. Also making the team was Cliff Bourland (21.0)
Bill Porter won the 110-hurdles in 13.90, while Harrison Dillard failed to make the team when he pulled up after hitting a number of hurdles during the race. Luckily for Dillard, he had made the U.S. team the day before in the 100-meters and made the most of his 2nd chance by winning the gold medal in the 100 at the London Olympics.
Porter had ended Dillard’s 82-meet winning streak by beating him at the U.S. Championships. Also making the team were Clyde Scott and Craig Dixon, and those three would sweep the medals in London.
World Record holder Charles Fonville (54-1 3/8 [16.49) had an off-day in the Shot Put, finishing 4th behind Frank Delaney (55-1 ¾ [16.81]), Wilbur Thompson (54-11 7/8 [16.76]), and Jim Fuchs (54-8 ¾ [16.67]). Thompson would win gold in London, while Delaney (silver) and Fuchs (bronze) completed a U.S. sweep.
Mal Whitfield qualified in two events, winning the 400 (46.77) and 800 (1:50.6), and went on to win 3 medals in London (gold-800, 4×400, bronze-400).
Results/Notes: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/1948.pdf
1950–Dick Attlesey ran 13.5 in Helsinki to shave a tenth of a second off his own World Record. Attlesey later said, “I was so tired I could hardly move and I had a strepped throat. I felt lousy…I ran 13.5 but I hit the last hurdle so hard that it threw me off balance and I went across the finish line sideways. I still have the scar on my leg to prove it.” (From “The Progression of IAAF World Records”)
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_110_metres_hurdles_world_record_progression
(For subscribers):
1960–Romania’s Iolanda Balas jumped 6-1 ¼ (1.86) in Bucharest to set the 10th of her 14 World Records in the High Jump. Balas went on to win the gold medal at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women’s_high_jump_world_record_progression
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/05/06/iolandabalas/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolanda_Balaș
1965–Australia’s Ron Clarke, nearing the end of a lengthy international tour, won the 3-mile at the AAA Championships in London in 12:52.4 to smash his month-old World Record (13:00.4) by a full 8 seconds! Finishing 2nd in 13:04.2 was Gerry Lindgren, who broke Bob Schul’s American Record (13:15.6) by an even bigger margin of 11.4 seconds. One British reporter referred to Clarke’s record run as “The greatest…performance of all time”.
Wiki Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Clarke
Racing Past: http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=157
Clarke Documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT2ANRbiiH8
Obituaries:
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/ron-clarke-first-to-break-2800-for-10k-dies-at-78
1971–Doris Brown (Heritage) ran 9:26.9 in Bakersfield,CA, to set a World Record (pre-IAAF recognition) for 3000-meters.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women’s_3000_metres_world_record_progression
Hall of Fame Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/doris-brown-heritage
http://www.spu.edu/depts/uc/response/autumn2k7/athletics/athletics-exclusive.asp
1973–Russia’s Faina Melnik threw 221-9 (67.58) in Moscow to set the 7th of her 11 World Records in the Discus.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_discus_throw_world_record_progression
(Discus history-M&W): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discus_throw
1976–Two World Records were set on this day. Russia’s Aleksandr Baryshnikov threw 72-2 1/4 (22.00) in Colombes, France, to break Terry Albritton’s 5-month old mark of 71-8 ¼ (21.85) in the Shot Put. It was the first world record set in the event using the “spin” technique.
East Germany’s Ruth Fuchs threw 226-9 (69.12) in Berlin to set the 4th of her 6 World Records in the Javelin.
WR Progressions:
(Shot Put): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_shot_put_world_record_progression
(Javelin): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_javelin_throw_world_record_progression
Conversion: https://www.usatf.org/statistics/calculators/markConversions/index.html
1982–Stephanie Hightower ran 12.79 in Germany to break her own 3-week old American Record of 12.86 in the 100—meter hurdles.
1988–The Soviet Union’s (and Ukraine’s) Sergey Bubka jumped 19-10 ½ (6.06) in Nice to raise his month-old World Record in the Pole Vault by one centimeter.
Carol Cady set American and World Records in the still-new women’s Hammer Throw with her toss of 193-4 (58.94) in Los Gatos, CA. (The IAAF didn’t ratify World Records in this event until 1995)
WR Progression: (Pole Vault)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_world_record_progression
1989–Romania’s Paula Ivan, who won gold (1500) and silver (3000) at the previous year’s Olympics in Seoul, ran 4:15.61 in Nice to break Mary Slaney’s 4-year old World Record in the Mile (4:16.71)
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_run_world_record_progression
1993–Iowa State grad Yobes Ondieki became the first man in history to break 27-minutes for 10,000-meters, running 26:58.38 at the Bislett Games in Oslo. The native of Kenya was the 1991 World Champion at 5000-meters.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_10,000_metres_world_record_progression
Iowa State Hall of Fame Bio: https://cyclones.com/honors/hall-of-fame/yobes-ondieki/111
2004—Adam Nelson (71-0 [21.64]) won the Men’s Shot Put at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento over Reese Hoffa (69-4 ¼ [21.14] and John Godina (69-2 ½ [21.09]). It was the 2nd team for Nelson, the 3rd for Godina. Finishing an unexpected 4th was favored Christian Cantwell, who could only manage one fair throw of 67-5 ½ (20.56). Said the frustrated Cantwell, who wound up ranked #1 in the World in 2004, “Every throw I felt like I was dancing around like I’d never been in the ring before”. Nelson originally finished 2nd at the Athens Olympics, but was later awarded the gold medal after “winner” Yuriy Bilonog was subsequently disqualified for a doping violation.
Latasha Colander (10.97) won the Women’s 100, followed by Torri Edwards (11.02), Lauryn Williams (11.10), Gail Devers (11.11), and Marion Jones (11.14). Devers was added to the team after Edwards was later suspended for failing a drug test in April. Williams would win the silver medal in Athens.
Making the team in the Heptathlon were Shelia Burrell (6194), Tiffany Lott-Hogan (6159), and Michelle Perry (6126)
Results/Notes: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2004.pdf
2009–Tyson Gay ran 9.77 in Rome to equal his own American Record in the 100-meters. 2nd in 9.88 was Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, the former World Record holder in the event.
https://worldathletics.org/news/report/gay-powers-back-with-977-in-rome-report-a
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tOip48vxyA
2010—David Oliver won the 110-meter hurdles in Paris in 12.89 to shave .01s off the American Record (12.90) he shared with Dominique Arnold.
Race Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CO05mcPNrY
Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ_KgqcbnOs
IAAF Report: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/bolt-decisively-handles-powell-oliver-threate
2016—Matthew Centrowitz (3:34.09), Robby Andrews (3:34.88), and Ben Blankenship (3:36.18) finished 1-2-3 in the Men’s 1500-Meters on the final day of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene. Finishing a close 4th was Leo Manzano (3:36.62), who had made the previous 7 U.S. teams (2-Olympics, 5 World Championships). “Centro”, of course, went on to win the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
Jenn Suhr (15-9 [4.80]) won the Women’s Pole Vault to qualify for her 3rd Olympic team. She was joined on the team by Sandi Morris (15-7 [4.75]) and NCAA Champion Lexi Weeks (15-5 [4.70]). An illness kept Suhr from defending her Olympic title in Rio, while Morris won the silver medal.
Dalilah Muhammad (52.88) and Ashley Spencer (54.02) finished 1-2 in the Women’s 400-meter hurdles, but the star of the event was Sydney McLaughlin, less than a month shy of her 17th birthday, who made the U.S. team with her 3rd-place finish. Her time of 54.15 broke her own H.S. and World Junior Records. Muhammad and Spencer went on to win gold and bronze, respectively, at the Rio Olympics, while McLaughlin, who still had a year left at Union Catholic (NJ) H.S., made it to the semi-final round.
Jenny Simpson (4:04.74) and Shannon Rowbury (4:05.39) finished 1-2 in the 1500 to make their 3rd Olympic team, and Brenda Martinez (4:06.16), who had become a crowd favorite after she got knocked off stride in the final of the 800, edged a lunging Amanda Eccleston (4:06.19) to grab the 3rd spot on the team. Simpson won the bronze medal in Rio.
30-year old Kerron Clement (48.50) won the Men’s 400-hurdles over Byron Robinson (48.79) and Michael Tinsley (48.82). Clement would win the gold medal in Rio.
Molly Huddle (15:05.01), winner of the 10,000 earlier in the Trials, won the Women’s 5000 over Shelby Houlihan (15:06.14), Kim Conley (15:10.62), Emily Infeld (15:13.87/2nd in the 10,000), and Abbey D’Agostino (15:14.04). With Huddle and Infeld opting to run only the 10,000 in Rio, D’Agostino was added to the team in the 5000.
Tori Bowie (22.25), already on the team in the 100, won the Women’s 200 over Deajah Stevens (22.30). Jenna Prandini’s stumbling finish gave her 3rd place over 400-winner Allyson Felix (22.53-22.54), who had hoped to win an Olympic double in Rio. Bowie would win a full set of medals in Rio-Gold (4×100), Silver (100), Bronze (200).
2012 gold medalist Erik Kynard (7-6 [2.29]) won the Men’s High Jump and was joined on the team by the next two men who had an Olympic qualifier, Brad Adkins (7-3 [2.21]) and Ricky Robertson (7-3 [2.21]), who finished 3rd and =6th, respectively.
Barbara Nwaba (6494) won a hotly-contested Heptathlon over Heather Miller-Koch (6423), and NCAA Champion Kendell Williams (6402). Finishing a close 4th was Sharon Day-Monroe (6385), who competed in the High Jump at the 2008 Olympics and the Heptathlon in London in 2012.
Results/Notes: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2016.pdf
https://www.si.com/olympics/2016/07/11/allyson-felix-200-meters-video-tori-bowie-us-olympic-trials
W400h: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIDvMLwX2N4
Meet The U.S. Team: https://www.si.com/olympics/2016/07/01/2016-us-olympic-track-and-field-team
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics
History of the U.S. Olympic Trials (through 2021): https://trackandfieldnews.com/usa-olympic-trials-history/
History of the U.S. Championships: https://trackandfieldnews.com/u-s-national-championships-history/
Past U.S. Champions: https://www.usatf.org/resources/statistics/usatf-champions/usatf-outdoor-champions
2020–Shelby Houlihan lowered her American Record for 5000-Meters from 14:34.45 to 14:23.92 in a Bowerman Track Club Intrasquad meet in Portland, Oregon. Also under the previous AR was Karissa Schweizer, who ran 14:26.34.
Born On This Day*
Peruth Chemutai—Uganda 26 (1999) 2021 Olympic gold medalist—Steeplechase; 2024-silver medalist, 2016-1st round
World Championships-2017 (1st round), 2019 (5th), 2022 (11th), 2023 (6th)
Silver medalist at the 2018 World Junior/Under-20 Championships
PB: 8:48.03 (2024/NR/#3 All-Time)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruth_Chemutai
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/uganda/peruth-chemutai-14707661
2021 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5bSyxssB-c
Trayvon Bromell 30 (1995) Looked like he would be the American sprinter of the future after winning the bronze medal in
the 100-meters at the 2015 World Championships (at the age of 20) and gold in the 60 at the 2016 World Indoor
Championships. He had also won the NCAA title in the 100 in 2014 while competing for Baylor.
Finished 8th in the 100 at the 2016 Olympics while dealing with a strained Achilles—eventually had two surgeries
Still hurting, he was able to anchor the U.S. 4×100 relay that “finished” 3rd in Rio, but the team was disqualified for an
exchange violation.
Only competed once in 2017, not at all in 2018, and twice in 2019.
Capped a remarkable comeback by winning the 100 at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials. Was one of the favorites heading
into the Tokyo Olympics, but was eliminated in the semi-final round.
Rebound continued in 2022, winning the bronze medal in the 100 at the World Championships in Eugene (part of a U.S. sweep behind
Fred Kerley and Marvin Bracy-Williams).
Suffered another setback in 2023—announced after finishing 6th in the 100 at the U.S. Championships that he would have to undergo
another surgery, this time to repair a bone spur in his right leg. Had battled through the pain to make it to the final.
2024 season was cut short by yet another injury!
Has run well so far in 2025—has a best of 9.84 and finished 3rd at the Pre Classic
2014 World Junior Champion—4×100 (2nd-100)
PBs: 9.76 (2021), 20.03 (2015); College: 9.90(=#7-All-Time), 20.03,19.86w; 2024 SB: 10.14
…
