by Larry EderWalt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–August 21
1909—2-time Olympic gold medalist (1904,1908) Ralph Rose set a World Record of 51-0 (15.54) in the Shot Put in San Francisco.
At the 1908 Games in London, organizers added something new: an opening ceremony, complete with a “Parade of Flags,” during which all flag bearers were instructed to dip their banners as they passed King Edward VII’s royal box. According to one report, Rose, who was chosen to carry the flag for the U.S. team, had other ideas. As a proud Irish-American, Rose didn’t possess an overwhelming affection for the English, so he refused to dip the American flag as he passed by the royal box, much to the consternation of the Olympic hosts.
At least that’s the story that has endured ever since. Noted Olympic historians Bill Mallon and Ian Buchanan take a deep look into what really happened: http://isoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/99.pdf
1920–After leading the Decathlon through 9 events at the Antwerp Olympics, Brutus Hamilton (6771.085) was overtaken in the 1500-meters by Norway’s Helge Løvland (6803.355) and had to settle for the silver medal. Hamilton went on to have a Hall-of-Fame career as a coach, first at Kansas, then at Cal-Berkeley. 3rd was Sweden’s Bertil Ohlson (6580.030). Antwerp organizers originally had just the pentathlon on the Olympic schedule, but eventually added the decathlon.
42-year old Pat McDonald won the 56-pound Weight Throw with a toss of 36-11 5/8 (11.265). He’s still the oldest Olympic Champion in Track & Field. Winning silver and bronze were his U.S. teammate, Paddy Ryan (35-11 ¾ [10.965]) and Sweden’s Carl-Johan Lind (33-7 ½ [10.25]).
3 days after winning the 10k-Walk, Italy’s Ugo Frigerio also won the 3k Walk (13:14.2). Finishing 2-3 were Australia’s George Parker (13:19.6), and American Richard Remer (13:22.2)
Medalists in the Triple Jump: Finland’s Vilho Tuulos (47-7 1/8 [14.505]), Sweden’s Folke Janson (47-6 ¼ [14.48]) and Erk Erik Almlöf (46-10 [14.27])
Medalists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1920_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/7/sports/ATH
Deca Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1920_Summer_Olympics_–_Men’s_decathlon
Frigerio: http://www.vrwc.org.au/tim-archive/articles/wo-ugo-frigerio.pdf
1954—Bill Miller threw the Javelin 266-8 (81.29) in Pasadena to better Bud Held’s year-old World & American Record of 263-9 (80.41). However, the mark was never officially recognized. On Miller’s “record” throw, the javelin broke upon impact. When it was patched together, it was discovered that the center of gravity was beyond the legal limit, and there was no way of knowing if that was caused by the repair or the impact.
(From the Progression of IAAF World Records-2011 Edition).
https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/progression-of-world-athletics-records-on-sal
1959–Sweden’s Dan Waern ran 2:17.8 in Karlstad, Germany, to break his own World Record of 2:18.1 for 1000- meters. Finishing 2nd was Belgium’s Roger Moens (2:19.2), the World Record holder at 800-meters, and 3rd was Yale’s Tom Carroll (2:20.9).
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/sweden/dan-waern-14356770
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1000_metres_world_record_progression
1960—Lee Calhoun won the 110-meter hurdles in Bern, Switzerland, in 13.2 to equal the World Record that was set by Germany’s Martin Lauer the previous year.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_110_metres_hurdles_world_record_progression
Hall of Fame Bio(1974,Charter Member): http://legacy.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=27
1962—With Los Angeles Track Club teammates Bob Seaman and Jim Grelle setting the early pace, future Hall-of-Famer Jim Beatty won the mile in Helsinki in 3:56.3 to break his 3-day old American Record of 3:56.5.
HOF Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/jim-beatty
Bring Back the Mile: http://bringbackthemile.com/athletes/detail/james_jim_beatty
1977—Two World Records were set at the World University Games in Sofia, Bulgaria. Alberto Juantorena shaved a tenth of a second off his own 1-year old mark in the 800-meters with his winning time of 1:43.4 (1:43.44), while fellow Cuban Alejandro Casañas won the 110-meter hurdles in 13.21 to break Rod Milburn’s 5-year old record of 13.24.
WR Progressions:
800: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/800_metres_world_record_progression
110h: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_110_metres_hurdles_world_record_progression
Juantorena: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Juantorena
IAAF Hall of Fame(Juantorena): http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/hall-of-fame
1985–Another big night in Zürich. Still reeling from her fall the year before in the Olympic 3000-meters, Mary Decker-Slaney achieved a small slice of revenge against two of the key players in L.A. as she set a World Record of 4:16.71 in the Mile. Finishing a close 2nd in 4:17.33 (also under the previous record–which she held [4:17.44]) was Romania’s Maricica Puică, who won the gold medal in the Olympic 3000, and 3rd, just outside Puica’s old mark, was Great Britain’s Zola Budd (4:17.57), who was involved in the incident that led to Decker’s Olympic fall. (Russia’s Natalya Artyemova ran 4:15.8 in 1984, but the mark was never submitted for approval).
The Women’s Long Jump almost stole the spotlight, with five women reaching beyond 23-feet. Winner of the event was East Germany’s Heike Drechsler, who had the four longest jumps of the night, topped by her best of 24-3 (7.39m).
Houston’s Carol Lewis had the best series of her career, becoming the first American to break the 23-foot barrier, jumping exactly that distance on her opening effort, then extending her American and Collegiate Records to 23-1 ¼ (7.04) in the 3rd round. But she didn’t have long to enjoy her new status, since UCLA’s Jackie Joyner-Kersee exploded on her final jump, reaching out to 23-9 (7.24m) to snatch the records away from Lewis. (at the time, post-NCAA marks were recognized as CRs by T&F News).
Also over 23-feet were Russia’s Galina Chistyakova (23-7 ½ [7.20]) and Germany’s Helga Radtke (23-7 ¼ [7.19]). Chistyakova, Radtke, and Lewis still hold the best marks in history for places 3-4-5. (Chistyakova would set the current World Record of 24-8 ¼ [7.52]) in 1988).
WR Progression(mile): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_run_world_record_
Best Marks For Place(for subscribers): https://trackandfieldnews.com/womens-best-ever-marks-place/
Hall of Fame Bio(Decker-Slaney): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/mary-decker-slaney
Bring Back the Mile: http://bringbackthemile.com/athletes/detail/mary_decker
1993–A U.S. lineup of Jon Drummond, Andre Cason, Dennis Mitchell, and Leroy Burrell equaled the World Record of 37.40 in their semi-final race of the 4×100 at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. The same foursome came back the next day (8-22) to win the final in 37.48, with Burrell having to slow down to receive the baton from Mitchell. Burrell and Mitchell also ran on the team that set the original record at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. (Michael Marsh led off that team and Carl Lewis anchored).
The pair of 37.40s remained the American Record until the 2012 Olympics, when a U.S. foursome of Jeff Demps, Darvis “Doc” Patton, Trell Kimmons, and Justin Gatlin ran 37.38 in the qualifying round in London. A team that included Tyson Gay ran 37.04 in the final (behind Jamaica’s World Record of 36.84), but the result was stricken from the IAAF record books as part of Gay’s subsequent doping penalties. (However, the mark was accepted as an American Record).
Switzerland’s Werner Günthör (72-1 [21.97]), who finished a disappointing 4th at the previous year’s Olympics, won his 3rd consecutive title in the Men’s Shot Put over World Record holder Randy Barnes (71-6 ¼ [21.80]), who had returned in 1993 from a 27-month doping ban. Winning the bronze medal was Ukraine’s Oleksandr Bagach (66-11 ¼ [20.40]). The original 3rd-placer, American Mike Stulce, the 1992 Olympic Champion, was disqualified for his own doping violation.
Kenya’s Moses Kiptanui, the World Record holder, set a Championship Record of 8:06.36 while winning the 2nd of his 3 World titles in the Steeplechase. Teammate Patrick Sang (8:07.53) won the silver medal (just as he’d done at the 1991 Worlds) and Italy’s Alessandro Lambruschini (8:08.78) won the bronze. 4th was the 3rd Kenyan, Matthew Birir (8:09.42), the 1992 Olympic Champion, was 4th, and American Mark Croghan (8:09.76), who was in 3rd place with 300-meters to go, finished 5th.
Cuba got a 1-2 finish in the Women’s High Jump from Ioamnet Quintero (6-6 ¼ [1.99], the bronze medalist at the 1992 Olympics, and Silvia Costa (6-5 ½ [1.97]), and winning the bronze medal was Austria’s Sigrid Kirchmann (6-5 ½ [1.97]).
There was another 1-2 finish in the Women’s 10,000-Meters by China’s Wang Junxia (30:49.30) and Zhong Huandi (31:12.55), with the bronze medal going to Kenya’s Sally Barsosio (31:15.38). Finishing 5th was American Lynn Jennings (331:30.53). The inexperienced Barsosio, only 15, repeatedly blocked the attempts of South Africa’s Elana Meyer to pass her and was given a yellow-card warning by an official during the race, a rare occurrence at a global championship.
Meyer, the slver medalist at the 1992 Olympics, dropped out of the race shortly before 4000-meters.
Medalists in other events:
Men’s 50k-Walk: Spain’s Jesús Ángel García (3:41:41), Finland’s Valentin Konone (3:42:02), Russia’s Valeriy Spitsyn (3:42.50).
Women’s Triple Jump:Russia’s Anna Biryulova (49-6 ¼ [15.09]) and Iolanda Chen (48-2 ¾ [14.70], Bulgaria’s Iva Prandzheva (46-8 ¼ [14.23])
Medalists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Championships_in_Athletics
Videos: Steeplechase Men’s 4×100 Women’s 10,000
1999—Stacy Dragila won the inaugural Women’s Pole Vault on the opening day of competition at the World Championships in Seville, Spain, clearing 15-1 (4.60) to equal the World Record that was set by Australia’s Emma George six months earlier. George, on the way back from an injury, could only clear 13-7 ¼ (4.15). Dragila had become the first female World Indoor Champion in the event in 1997. Winning silver and bronze were Ukraine’s Anzhela Balakhonova (14-11 [4.55]) and Australia’s Tatiana Grigorieva (14-7 ¼ [4.45]), a native of Russia.
Dragila was trailing Balakhonova until she cleared 15-1 on her 2nd attempt (her 15th vault of the competition!), while Balakhonova missed twice at that height and then again in her only attempt at the WR height of 15-3(4.65). Dragila missed all of her attempts at 15-3.
Said Dragila after the event, “18 jumps! Really, I didn’t want to take that many attempts but I was feeling a little unconfident with my technique. I am still developing as is the whole event”.
American C.J. Hunter threw a personal best of 71-6 (21.79) in the final round of the Men’s Shot Put to snatch the gold medal from Germany’s Oliver-Sven Buder (70-3 ½ [21.42]). 3rd was Ukraine’s Oleksandr Bagach (69-9 [21.26])
Medalists in the 20k-Walk were Russia’s Ilya Markov (1:23:34), Ecuador’s Jefferson Pérez (1:24:19), and Belarus’s Yevgeniy Misyulya (1:26:08. Pérez went on to win gold at the 1996 Olympics and 3 World Championships (2003-2005-2007).
Meadalists/Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_World_Championships_in_Athletics
Additional Reports:
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women’s_pole_vault_world_record_progression
2008-It was a changing of the guard as LaShawn Merritt (43.75) beat defending champion Jeremy Wariner (44.74) to win the gold medal in the Men’s 400-meters at the Beijing Olympics, while David Neville’s (44.80) dive at the finish line gave the U.S. a sweep of the medals.
From the IAAF Report: When Merritt settles into his starting blocks, he offers a kiss to the sky, and he did the same more fulsomely with his gold medal in his hands after the presentation of awards. This is a tribute to his deceased elder brother, Antwan, who was instrumental in bringing up LaShawn when their parents divorced. Antwan, six years older, introduced LaShawn to baseball, and pushed him into playing the trumpet. It was even Antwan who suggested his little brother’s name. But in trying to escape from a fight at university, Antwan jumped from an eighth floor window, and was killed. He was only 19. LaShawn, then 13, stopped playing baseball, and gave up the trumpet as well. But, he did take up running, at Woodrow Wilson High School, in Portsmouth.
“When I was running in High School,” he recalled in a pre-Olympic interview, “it was like an out-of-body experience. It was like both of us were running”.
At the press conference after his victory, he said, “I dedicate my medal to him. He wasn’t around to see me run track. It’s definitely something he would have been proud of”.
Cuba’s Dayron Robles won the 110-meter hurdles in 12.93 over Americans David Payne (13.17) and David Oliver (13.18). The injured Liu Xiang broke hearts all across China when he was unable to make it out of the blocks in the first round.
For the 2nd Games in a row, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown (21.74-PB) won the Women’s 200-meters over Allyson Felix (21.93). 3rd was Jamaica’s Kerron Stewart (23.00).
Czech Barbora Špotáková won the 1st of her 2 Olympic titles in the Women’s Javelin and set a European Record of (234-4 [71.42]). Silver and bronze went to Germany’s Christina Obergföll (216-11 [66.13]) and Great Britain’s Goldie Sayers (215-8 [65.75]). Russia’s Maria Abakumova, who was leading until Špotáková got her winning throw in the final round, was retroactively stripped of her silver medal for a doping violation. Špotáková was an All-American Heptathlete during her one year at the University of Minnesota, but was convinced to concentrate on the javelin by none other than fellow Czech Jan Železný, considered the greatest male javelin thrower in history.
Portugal’s Nelson Évora (57-11 ¾ [17.67] followed up his win at the previous year’s World Championships by winning the gold medal in the Men’s Triple Jump. Silver and bronze went to Great Britain’s Phillips Idowu (57-9 ¾ [17.62]) and the Bahamas’ Leevan Sands (57-8 ½ [17.59]).
Russia’s Olga Kaniskina, the 2007 World Champion, added an Olympic gold to her collection by winning the Women’s 20k-Walk (1:26:31). 2nd and 3rd were Norway’s Kjersti Plätzer (1:27.07) and Italy’s Elisa Rigaudo (1:27:12).
A potential showdown between the U.S. and Jamaica in the Men’’s 4×100 final fell apart when Doc Patton and Tyson Gay couldn’t connect on the final exchange in the first round. The U.S. nightmare continued in the Women’s 4×100 when Torri Edwards and Lauryn Williams botched the final exchange in their first-round race.
Medalists/Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics
Report:
4x100s: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/trackandfield/news/story?id=3545991
Videos: Men’s 400 Women’s 200 W200 #2 Men’s 110h Men’s 4×100 Women’s 4×100
2009—LaShawn Merritt (44.06) celebrated the 1-year anniversary of his Olympic victory by again beating Jeremy Wariner (44.60) to win the Men’s 400 at the World Championships in Berlin. Trinidad & Tobago’s Renny Quow won the bronze medal (45.02).
American Allyson Felix won her 3rd World title in the 200, turning the tables on 2-time Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica. (22.02-22.35). 3rd was the Bahamas’ Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (22.41), and 4th, just as she was at the previous year’s World Championships, was American Muna Lee (22.48).
Medalists in other events
Men’s High Jump: Russia’s Yaroslav Rybakov (7-7 ¼ [2.32]), Cyprus’ Kyriakos Ioannou (7-7 ¼ [2.32]), Poland’s Sylvester Bednarek (7-7 ¼ [2.32]). Jumping as high as the three medalists, but finishing 4th on misses, was Germany’s Raul Spank (7-7 ¼ [2.32]).
Men’s 50k-Walk: Norway’s Trond Nymark (3:41:16), 39-year old Spaniard Jesús Ángel García (3:41.37), the 1993 World Champion, Poland’s Grzegorz Sudol (3:42:34)
Women’s Discus: Australia’s Dani Samuels (214-8 [65.44]), Cuba’s Yarelis Barrios (214-3 [65.31]), Romania’s Nicoleta Grasu
(213-11 [65.20])
Medalists/Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_World_Championships_in_Athletics
Videos
M400: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omq_6KcQyp8
400 Analysis: http://speedendurance.com/2009/08/31/400-meter-splits-2009-berlin-world-championships/
W200: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM9zB1HovjI
2016—Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge (2:08:44) lived up to his role as the favorite by winning the Men’s Marathon, the final event of the Rio Olympics, over Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesa (2:09:54) and American Galen Rupp (2:10.05), who won the bronze medal in only his 2nd marathon. It was a gratifying performance for Rupp, who was disappointed with his 5th-place finish in the 10,000 eight days earlier.
U.S. teammate Jared Ward (2:11.30) finished 6th, and 41-year old Meb Keflezighi, the silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics, finished 33rd in 2:16:46. The 1:10 margin of victory for Kipchoge, the 2003 World Champion at 5000-meters, was the greatest in an Olympic marathon since Frank Shorter won by 2:12 in Munich in 1972. His win was his 7th in 8 marathon races since 2013.
Said Rupp, “I was watching ‘Happy Gilmore’ the other day, and he fights being a golfer for a while, saying he’s a hockey player,” Rupp said. “I fought being a marathoner and wanted to run on the track, but you know, maybe this is my best event.”
IAAF Report: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/rio-2016-men-marathon
Videos
Full Race:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM86YswsgLI
Highlights: https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/video/detail/men-s-marathon-rio-2016-replay/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/sports/olympics/rio-olympics-mens-marathon-live-results.html
2021(New)—Two American Records were set at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon.
Athing Mu won the 800 in 1:55.04 to better the AR of 1:55.21 she had set while winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics earlier in the month, and Courtney Frerichs became the first American to break 9-minutes in the Steeplechase when she ran 8:57.77 while finishing 2nd to Kenya’s Norah Tanui Jeruto (8:53.65).
Other Pre winners who were also Tokyo gold medalists ( ):
Bowerman Mile: Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen (1500) won the first of his three straight Bowermans with a Diamond League Record of
3:47.24.
Women’s 1500: Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon (1500) 3:53.23
Men’s Shot Put: Ryan Crouser 75-11 ½ (23.15/DLR)
Women’s Pole Vault: Katie Nageotte-Moon (15-9 ¾ [4.82])
Men’s Triple Jump: Portugal’s Pedro Pablo Pichardo (57-10 ¼ [17.63])
Women’s 5000 (8-20): The Netherlands Sifan Hassan (5000, 10,000) 14:27.89
Men’s 2-mile (8-20): Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei (5000) 8:09.55
Men’s 100: Canada’s Andre De Grasse (200) 9.74w
Women’s 100: Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah (100, 200, 4×100) set a DLR of 10.54 while leading a Jamaican sweep-Shelly-Anne
Fraser-Pryce (10.73) and Shericka Jackson (10.76)
Noah Lyles, who the bronze medal in the 200 in Tokyo, won the Men’s 200 with a Meet Record of 19.52. Kenny Bednarek
(19.80) was 2nd, followed by Lyles’ brother Josephus (20.03).
Results: https://www.omegatiming.com/2021/Eugene-live-results
End of an Era: I didn’t know it at the time, but the NBC broadcast of this meet would be the last TV “gig” I would ever work on. For more than 4 decades, I had the incredibly good fortune to work on meets all over the U.S. and around the world, primarily for NBC, but also for CBS, ABC, ESPN, and Turner Broadcasting. It was this track fan’s fantasy “job” that had me working with dozens of announcers (including many former athletes), some of whom would become long-time friends. If anyone is interested, the list of those announcers is attached.
2023—Assigned to lane 9 after advancing from the semis only as a “time qualifier”, Sha’Carri Richardson won the Women’s 100-meters at the World Championships in Budapest and set a meet record of 10.65. She surprised the Jamaican duo of Shericka Jackson (10.72), who won her 2nd straight WC silver medal, and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce (10.77), who was hoping to win her 6th World title in the 100. Finishing 5th was St.Lucia’s Julien Alfred (10.93), who would beat Richardson to win Olympic gold in Paris in 2024
It was a long time coming for Richardson since she wowed the track world with her 10.75 win at the 2019 NCAA Championships while at LSU. After the Covid-shortened 2020 season, she won the 100 at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, but then lost her chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for cannabis. And then she failed to make it out of the first round of the 100 at the 2022 U.S. Championships, the qualifying meet for the World Championships in Eugene.
Grant Holloway became the 2nd man to win three straight WC titles in the 110m-Hurdles, running 12.96 to top Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment (13.07), the man who had beaten him to win the Olympic title in Tokyo in 2021. Winning his first global medal in 3rd was Daniel Roberts (13.09), who had been Holloway’s rival in college.
After Holloway crossed the finish line, he held up 3 fingers in each hand to signify his trifecta, which was first accomplished by fellow American Greg Foster, the winner at the 1st three World Championships (Allen Johnson won 4 WC titles, but they were split
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