This Day in Track & Field, September 5, Wilma Rudolph wins her second gold medal (1960), Mark Nenow sets AR at 10,000m (1985)by Walt Murphy

Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service  ([email protected])

This Day in Track & Field–September 5

1960–Running from lane one, Wilma Rudolph, who overcame polio as a child, won her 2nd gold medal at the Rome Olympics by winning the Women’s 200-Meters in 24.0 (24.13). 2^nd and 3^rd were Germany’s Jutta Heine (24.4/24.58) and Great Britain’s Dorothy Hyman (24.7 [24.82]). Rudolph would win a 3^rd gold medal in the 4×100.

American Lee Calhoun needed a fantastic lean to hold off teammate Willie May and win his 2nd straight Olympic title in the 110-hurdles. Both were timed in 13.8 (auto: 13.98-13.99). Hayes Jones edged Germany’s Martin Lauer, the co-World Record holder (with Calhoun) for 3^rd to complete the U.S. sweep (both hand-timed in 14.0/auto-14.17-14.20). A strong crosswind led to slower-than-expected times.

The medalists in the Women’s Discus were Soviets Nina Ponomaryova (180-9 [55.10]/OR), the 1952 gold medalist, and Tamara Press (172-6 [52.59]), the winner of the Shot Put earlier in the Games, and Romania’s Lia Manoliu (171-9 [52.36]).

Medalists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1960_Summer_Olympics

Olympedia Reports: http://www.olympedia.org/editions/15/sports/ATH

Videos: 110h  Rudolph(100,200,4×100)  Remembering Calhoun

1972—Striking before sunrise, members of Black September, a Palestinian terrorist group, stormed the athletes’ village, setting in motion the Munich Massacre that resulted in the deaths of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic delegation.

ABC Coverage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTqZPKZ4_wk

http://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/09.05.html

Google Links

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=1972+munich+massacre&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Sports Illustrated Vault—A Sanctuary Violated:

https://vault.si.com/vault/1972/09/18/a-sanctuary-violated

50 Years Ago:

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/04/1116641214/munich-olympics-massacre-hostage-terrorism-israel-germany

1986–With Alberto Salazar’s 4-year old American Record of 27:25.61 as a target, Mark Nenow won the 10,000-meters in Brussels in 27:20.56 to set a new standard.  Nenow’s mark, which was the 3rd-fastest in history at the time, stood for 15-years until Meb Keflezighi ran 27:13.98 in 2001.

2nd in the race was Ireland’s John Treacy (28:04.39) and a distant 14th was 34-year old Henry Rono (29:58.95), the former World Record holder in the event.

East Germany’s Heike Drechsler (23-8  ¾ [7.23]) won the Long Jump  over Jackie Joyner(23-4  1/2) and Carol Lewis (22-6  ¼ [6.86]), and finished 2nd to Evelyn Ashford in the 200 (22.06-22.10).

Nenow Looks Back(2011): http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/25-laps-25-years-later

Video(200): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0AcxvWs-mM

Results: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/05/Track-and-Field-Results-At-Brussels-Sept-5/8330526276800/

AR Progression: http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProg_AllUSA.asp?RecCode=WR&EventCode=MA8&Gender=M&P=F

T&F News Interview (Nenow): https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/mark-nenow.pdf

1987–Reality interrupted my fantasy world. I was working with NBC in Rome at my 2nd World Championships, sitting next to announcer Charlie Jones in the TV booth, when I got a message that I needed to come down to the compound for an important phone call from back home in New York.

Peter Diamond, who had gotten me my first job with NBC back in 1978, filled in for me as I rushed down to take the call. It was my brother Pete on the line and he told me our dad wasn’t doing well. He had gone into the hospital for some tests and some complications set in. He suggested that I try to get home as soon as possible.

NBC was very understanding and quickly arranged for a flight home the next day. I was facing a long trip home alone, not knowing what to expect when I landed. But, as luck would have it, I wound up sitting next to Bob Hersh’s wife, Louise, who was leaving the Championships early, and she was a great source of comfort all the way from Rome to New York.

It was an emotional meeting when my brother picked me up at JFK Airport and informed me that dad, who had sat with us for many years at the Millrose Games at the Garden, had survived his ordeal, but was still hospitalized.

When we arrived at our sister Eileen’s house in Brooklyn, I was not surprised to find the rest of the family watching NBC’s coverage of the final day of competition from Rome  They had been dealing with the crisis for a few days now and were entitled to a little break. After hugs and tears  all around the room, I remember watching Abdi Bile win the 1500!

While it was good news that dad was still alive, the bad news was that the long-term prognosis was not good. He would spend the next five years of his life in a nursing home before mercifully passing away in 1992 at the age of 88.

            Meanwhile, back in Rome, Carl Lewis (28-5  ½ [8.67]) fought off a strong challenge from the Soviet Union’s Robert Emmiyan (28-0 [8.53]) to win his 2^nd World title in the Men’s Long Jump. Larry Myricks (27-4 [8.33]) was sitting in 3^rd place until Italy’s Giovanni Evangelisti, perhaps getting a generous measurement from a friendly official, was credited with a mark of 27-6 (8.38) on his final jump to claim the bronze medal!

That might have been the end of the story, but Sandro Donati, Italy’s National sprint coach at the time, had been told beforehand that the “fix was in” to guarantee a medal for Evangelisti! When he saw the final mark come up on the display board, he knew that Evangelisti, who appeared to be unimpressed with his final effort, hadn’t jumped that far. He was outraged that officials had followed up on their plan and immediately began a long and frustrating campaign to bring the “fraud” to light.

With no one admitting any guilt, Evangelisti’s final mark was ultimately disallowed, with Myricks becoming the rightful bronze medalist!  See the link below for more on this story.

The Soviet Union’s (and Ukraine’s) Sergey Bubka won the 2nd of his 6 World titles in the Pole Vault with a clearance of 19-2  ¼ (5.85). Silver and bronze went to France’s Thierry Vigneron (19-1/4 [5.80]) and Soviet (Russian) Radion Gataullin (19-1/4 [5.80]). A confident Bubka only needed two jumps to win the gold medal, clearing 18-8  ¼ (5.70) and 19-2  ¼ on his first attempts. American Earl Bell (18-8  ¼ [5.70]) tied for 5^th.

Another Soviet (Russian), Tatyana Samolenko (3:58.56), passed East Germany’s Hildegard Körner (3:58.67) in the last 15-Meters to win the Women’s 1500-Meters, completing her double after winning the 3000 four days earlier (Mary Decker won the same double in 1983). Finishing 3^rd was Romania’s Doina Melinte (3:59.27).

Italian fans got a treat when Francesco Panetta (8:08.57), leading for most of the race, won the Men’s Steeplechase a week after earning the silver medal in the 10,000-Meters. 2^nd and 3^rd were East Germany’s Hagen Melzer (8:10.32) and Belgium’s William Van Dijck (8:12.18). 4^th was American Brian Diemer (8:14.46). Kenya’s Joshua Kipkemboi was a close 2^nd to Panetta when he tripped over a barrier with less than 4 laps to go and couldn’t continue.

Medalists in the Women’s Shot Put were the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Natalya Lisovskaya (69-8  ¼ [21.24]), and East Germany’s Kathrin Neimke (69-7 [21.21]) and Ines Müller (68-1  ¼ [20.76]).

East Germany got a 1-2 finish in the 50k-Walk from Hartwig Gauder (3:40:53), the 1980 Olympic Champion, and Ronald Weigel (3:41:30), with the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Vyacheslav Ivanenko (3:44:02) finishing 3^rd.

Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_World_Championships_in_Athletics

IAAF Coverage

Athletics Weekly: https://www.athleticsweekly.com/london-2017/iaaf-world-championships-history-rome-1987-62714/

LJ Controversy: http://dailyrelay.com/the-worlds-most-memorable-moments-part-3/

Videos

MSC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2SNMycUods&pp=QAA%3D

MLJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg6cf4V4jSY

NBC Coverage—Day 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT7fhWuAiic

1992–Gaining some consolation after missing the Olympic Decathlon in Barcelona (he no-heighted in the Pole Vault at the U.S. Trials), Dan O’Brien not only set a World Record of  8,891 points in Talence, France, he also beat the Olympic gold medalist, Robert Změlík (CZE), who scored 8,344 points. Daley Thompson set the previous record of 8,847 at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. O’Brien is now a TV broadcaster, motivational speaker, author, and coach.

O’Brien’s Marks:

10.96, 26-6  ¼ (8.08), 54-9  ¼ (16.69), 6-9  ½ (2.07), 48.51, 13.98, 48.56 (159-4), 16-4  ¾ (5.00), 205-4 (62.58), 4:42.10

WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon_world_record_progression

Hall of Fame Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/dan-o-brien

Home Site: http://www.danobrien.com/

Sports Illustrated Vault(Rise & Shine)

1993–Algeria’s Noureddine Morceli  ran 3:44.39 in Rieti, Italy, to smash Steve Cram’s 8-year old World Record in the Mile (3:46.32). Morceli ended a 14-year British hold on the record, with Seb Coe (3) and Steve Ovett (2) preceding Cram as record-setters from 1979 through 1981

WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mile_run_world_record_progression

(For Subscribers):

https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/06/sports/track-and-field-morceli-s-3-44.39-cuts-1.93-off-mile.html

1998—It was a big pay-day for 3 athletes at the Mobil Grand Prix Final in Moscow. Combining their winnings from the GP overall and individual standings, as well as a 1/3-share of the $1,000,000 Golden League payout, given to any athlete who was a winner at all 6 GL meets, the big winners were:

Marion Jones–$633,333.00 (GL-$333,333, Overall Women-$200,000, 100/10.83-$50.000, Long Jump/23-4  ¾ [7.13]-

$50,000)

Hicham El Guerrouj–$583,333.00 (GL-$333,333, Overall Men-$200,000, 1500/3:32.03-$50,000)

Haile Gebrselassie–$483,333.00 (GL-$333,333, Overall Men Runnerup-$100,000, 3000/7:50.00-$50,000).

Bryan Bronson was in position to share in the Golden League haul, but strided across the finish line of the Men’s 400-Hurdles when he realized he wasn’t going to beat France’s Stéphane Diagana (48.30).

Among the other winners, all of whom collected $50,000, were Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova (1500-4:03.79/also won

$100,000 as the Overall runnerup), Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor (HJ/7-7 [2.31]), American John Godina (SP/69-7 [21.21]), and Namibia’s Frank Fredericks (100/10.11).

Results(Top 3): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_IAAF_Grand_Prix_Final

Off The Track: I had been working for a few years with Dwight Stones and Carol Lewis on the series of U.S. meets that had been airing on Turner Sports (TNT). We were hoping they would send us to Moscow for the 1998 GP Final in Moscow, as well as the World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was scheduled for the following week. We were thrilled to find out we would indeed be making that trip! And while I don’t have any strong memories of the meet itself in Moscow, I do remember that Russia was in a chaotic economic state at that time, with the exchange rate at our hotel seemingly changing by the hour. And our local contact said, “For the first time, I am afraid for my country”. The followup trip to South Africa provided many more pleasant memories, which I’ll relate next week.

1999—Kenya’s Noah Ngeny ran 2:11.96 for 1000-meters in Rieti to break Seb Coe’s 18-year old World Record of 2:12.18.  Ngeny, who had come close to Coe’s record when he ran 2:12.66 in July, would go on to win Olympic gold in the 1500 the following year.

Videos:

Ngeny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvUH3X0Wv2c

Coe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzw9Sn8bzl4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Ngeny

2014—Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim high-jumped 7-11  ½ (2.43) at the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels. Only World Record holder Javier Sotomayor has ever jumped higher. Finishing 2^nd at 7-10  ½ (2.40) was Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko. Barshim missed his 3 attempts at 8-3/4 (2.46), ¼” above Soto’s record of 8-1/2 (2.45). Bondarenko also missed his two jumps at 8-3/4.

Kenya’s Jairus Birech won the Men’s Steeplechase in 7:58.41, with Evan Jager finishing 3^rd in 8:04.71 to break his own American Record of 8:06.81.

The Women’s 3000 was won by Kenya’s Mercy Cherono (8:28.95), while Jenny Simpson (4^th) won the race-within-a-race over fellow American Shannon Rowbury (5^th), 8:29.58-8:29.93. Only Mary Slaney had run faster outdoors among American women.

Results:

www.letsrun.com/news/2014/09/results-2014-memorial-van-damme-brussels-iaaf-diamond-league-track-field-athletics-meeting-results/

Metric Conversion: https://www.usatf.org/resources/statistics/calculators

All-Time Top-10: https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/world-all-time-list-men/

All-Time Top-10(U.S.): https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/u-s-all-time-list-women/

Videos:

3000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Mfq_pjtPc

Men’s HJ(full event-2.43 jump 8-minutes in): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s9RKu9Irqo

AR Progression(Steeple): http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProg_AllUSA.asp?RecCode=WR&EventCode=MB3&Gender=M&P=F

Born On This Day*

Bryce Hoppel 28 (1997) 2024 World Indoor Champion—800m (2022-bronze)

4^th at the 2024 Olympics—ran 1:41.67, breaking Donavan Brazier’s American Record of 1:42.34

Semi-finalist at the Tokyo Olympics

2019 NCAA Indoor & Outdoor Champion—800m (Kansas)

3-time U.S. Champion (2022, 2023, 2024-O.T.); 3^rd at the 2025 U.S. Championships

4-time U.S. Indoor Champion (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024)

3^rd  at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials;

4^th at the 2019 World Championships, 7^th in 2023; 1^st-round 2022

Set an American Indoor Record of 2:16.27 for 1000-meters in 2021

PBs:

800: 1:41.67 (2024/NR, #7 All-Time World); 2025 SB: 1:42.49

800i: 1:44.19i (2025/#6 A-T World/#2-U.S./NR at the time)

1000: 2:15.99 (2022/#6 A-T U.S.)

1000i: 2:16.27i (2021/#13 A-T World, #2 A-T U.S./NR at the time)

1500: 3:39.78 (2025)

College PB: 1:44.41 (2019/#7 All-Time)

          Turned pro after his junior year at Kansas

          Ran 1:49.58 as a senior at Midland(TX) H.S. in 2016

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Hoppel

https://www.runblogrun.com/2019/10/nine-quick-questions-with-bryce-hoppel-the-runblogrun-interview.html

Family Support

https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/

’24 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfM5wTg5OsU

“Heartbreaking”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA-fduzCOBQ

’24 WIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jHE3EsY9C0

Drew Hunter  28 (1997)  Senior at Loudon Valley(VA) at the time, he ran 3:58.25 for the Mile at NY’s Armory In 2016 to

              break Alan Webb’s 15-year old U.S. High School Indoor Record of 3:59.86…improved to 3:57.81 two

weeks later at the Millrose Games. Had earlier set a High School Record of 7:59.33 for 3000-meters

2019 U.S. Indoor Champion at 2-miles—won out of the “slow” section!

In only his 2^nd race at the distance, he finished 4^th in the 10,000-meters at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials

            Post-Race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyNIIhieoi4

Finished 5th in the 5000-meters at the 2019 U.S. Championships to qualify for the World Championships team (2

runners ahead of him hadn’t met the Doha qualifying standard). Unfortunately, a foot injury forced him to

give up his spot on the team!

4^th in the 5000 at the 2025 U.S. Championships

Hunter’s parents, Marc and Joan, coached Alan Webb when he was a high school freshman!

After initially committing to compete collegiately for Oregon, he became a professional

after signing what is reportedly a 10-year contract with adidas.

PBs: 1:48.57 (‘18), 3:33.41 (‘25), 3:54.80 (’22), 3:55.52i (‘23), 7:39.85 (‘19), 13:08.57 (‘24), 27:24.49 (‘25)

www.milesplit.com/articles/174924/drew-hunter-35825-breaks-alan-webbs-national-high-school-mile-record

A Road Less Traveled: https://trackandfieldnews.com/taking-a-road-less-traveled-for-drew-hunter/

          Homemade Champion:

http://www.runwashington.com/2015/09/20/drew-hunter-homemade-champion/

Turning Pro:

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2016/07/08/drew-hunter

…