by RBR Admin
This Day in Track & Field–December 1
This Day in Track & Field is written, curated and edited by Walt Murphy, founding publisher of Eastern Track & X-Country XPress! Used with permission.
1956–Australian fans were hoping that John Landy, the 2nd man to break 4-minutes for the mile and the current World Record holder in the event (3:58.0), could bring home a gold medal in the Men’s 1500-meters on the final day of competition at the Melbourne Olympics.
But he was by no means the favorite. In fact, Bert Nelson wrote in Track and Field News that as many as 10 of the 12 finalists were potential winners. The early pace was quick, but cautious, with everyone still within striking distance as another Aussie, Merv Lincoln, led the tightly bunched pack through 800-meters in 2:00.1. With a lap to go (2:46.6), positions had started to change, but everyone was still in contention, with Villanova’s Ron Delany, who had won the first of his three NCAA 1500/mile titles in June, sitting in 10th place. The Irishman then started his amazing kick, one that would become familiar to American fans over the next few years, and started to quickly pass one runner after another. He finally took the lead coming off the final turn and went on to win the gold medal with an Olympic Record time of 3:41.2. Germany’s Klaus Richtzenhain edged Landy for the silver medal (3:42.0 for both).
Delany, with his “herky-jerky” stride, had already started his fabled indoor career by winning the first of his four straight Wanamaker Miles at the Millrose Games earlier in the year, and he would eventually become one of the most popular runners ever to grace the boards at NY’s Madison Square Garden.
The Irishman almost didn’t make it to Melbourne. Members of the Olympic Council of Ireland had voted 6-6 on whether or not to send him to the Games (finances being one of the considerations). Lord Killanin, the Chairman of the Olympic Council of Ireland (and the future Chairman of the IOC), cast the deciding vote in favor of Delany, clearing the way for one of Ireland’s greatest Olympic moments.
With a lineup that included 3 of the top 4 finishers in the 100, the U.S. was heavily favored to win the Men’s 4×100, but, even 60+ years ago, there was concern about the team’s ability to get the baton safely around the track. The handoffs were less than perfect in the previous day’s first round, as well as in the semi-finals, which were held earlier on this final day of competition, but the Americans won each of their races.
In the final, 5’-4” (1.63) Ira Murchison ran a great lead-off leg to give the U.S. the lead, which was extended by Leamon King. Much of that lead was lost in the botched hand-off from King to Thane Baker (they had a similar mishap in the first round), but Baker maintained his composure and handed off the baton in the lead to anchorman Bobby Morrow. The Abilene Christian star, who had earlier won the 100 and 200, closed out his memorable Olympics by bringing the U.S. home first in the World Record time of 39.5. The Soviet Union finished 2nd in 39.8, followed by Germany in 40.3. Morrow was the 3rd athlete to be selected as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year (following Roger Bannister in 1954 and baseball’s Johnny Podres in 1955). He was also featured on the cover of Life magazine (see links).
Great Britain’s Thelma Hopkins (1.74 [5-8 ½]) and Romania’s 19-year old Iolanda Balaș (1.75 [5-8 ¾]) had each set World Records during the year and were the favorites for the gold medal in the Women’s High Jump. But it was American Mildred “Tex” McDaniel who became Olympic Champion. The former basketball player at Tuskegee Institute, a future Hall-of-Famer, was the only one to clear 5-7 (1.70), which was one centimeter better than her previous American Record. She then cleared a World Record of 5-9 ¼ (1.76) on her 2nd attempt. Hopkins tied for 2nd (1.67 [5-5 ¾]) with the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Mariya Pisareva, while Balaș, who was destined to become one of the greatest performers in T&F history (two Olympic golds, 13 additional WRs, and a 140-meet winning streak), finished 5th (1.67 [5-5 ¾]).
Lou Jones, the World Record holder in the 400, had run the anchor leg for the U.S. in the heats of the Men’s 4×400 relay, but he was switched to the lead-off leg for the final. He opened with a 47.1 split that gave the U.S. a slight lead over Australia. With 100,000 fans going wild, David Lean kept the Aussies even with American J.W. Mashburn (46.4). After winning the gold medal in the 400, Charlie Jenkins was given the option to run the anchor leg by U.S. coaches, but he chose to run the 3rd leg.
Jenkins, aware that he was about to run his 6th 1-lapper in four days, explained the switch by saying recently, ”I was just trying to look out for my teammates when deciding to run the third leg”. Jenkins’s concern about fatigue was unfounded, though, as his 45.5 carry, the fastest of the day, broke open the race and gave the U.S. a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Anchor Tom Courtney, who won the 800-meters on November 26th, had four days of rest before he ran in the relay qualifying round. The former Fordham star, who had actually beaten Jenkins to win the 400 at the AAU Championships in June, closed out the winning effort with the 2nd-fastest split of the race–45.8 (3:04.8).
Kevan Gosper, the 1955 Big-10 400-meter Champion while at Michigan State, anchored Australia to a set of silver medals (3:06.2), while Great Britain finished 3rd (3:07.2).
For Jenkins, it was a natural progression of success in the relay. He was the anchor on the Rindge Tech (Cambridge,Ma) team that set a U.S. National H.S. record in 1953 and had already anchored Villanova to two wins at the Penn Relays (he would anchor a 3rd in 1957–Ron Delany ran the 3rd leg in 1956!). Carrying on the family tradition, his son Chip also won Olympic gold after running in the first round of the relay at the 1992 Olympics.
The partisan crowd was thrilled as Betty (“The Golden Girl”) Cuthbert brought Australia from behind on the anchor leg in the Women’s 4×100 relay to beat Great Britain for the gold medals (it was her 3rd gold medal of the Games). Both teams (44.5-44.7) bettered the previous World Record of 44.9, which had been set by the Aussies and Germany in the first heat earlier in the day.
The U.S. fielded a team that Included future Hall-of-Famers Mae Faggs and Wilma Rudolph, who was only 16 at the time, but they had to settle for the bronze medals, despite equaling the hours-old WR of 44.9. Faggs had won a gold medal in the relay as the lead-off runner on the winning team at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, while Rudolph went on to attain legend status with her 3 gold medals at the 1960 Games in Rome.
France’s Alain Mimoun took the lead in the Marathon 1/2-way through the race and was never challenged as he went on to win the gold medal with a time of 2:25:00 in the warm conditions (80s). Winning the silver and bronze were Yugoslavia’s Franjo Mihalić (2:26:32) and Finland’s Veikko Karvonen (2:27:47). Finishing 6th towards the end of his career was the great Emil Zátopek (Czech.), the defending champion who had beaten Mimoun to win the gold medal in the 10,000-meters at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. Americans Nick Costes (2:42:20) and John (the “younger) Kelley (2:43:40) finished 20th and 21st, respectively.
Thanks to ’56 U.S. Olympian Elliott Denman, 11th in the 50k Walk, for providing many personal memories and related tidbits from the Games as we chronicled each day of competition.
Complete Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1956_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/14/sports/ATH
Delany Remembers: http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/delany-reminisces-as-melbourne-celebrates-50t
1500 Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u696YRFCfFg
Delany Photos:
http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn4278496-s227
http://tinyurl.com/DelanyGoogle
Delany’s Book-Staying The Distance: http://tinyurl.com/DelanyBook
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1956/12/10/golden-melbourne
Morrow:
Sports Illustrated Man of the Year (Morrow)
1974 – Jaqi (aka Jacki) Hansen set a Women’s World Record of 2:43:54.5 on her “home course” at the Western Hemisphere Marathon in Culver City, California. Hansen, the winner of the 1973 Boston Marathon, was at the forefront of the fight to have women’s distance events added to the Olympic program.
She talks about her preparation for the race in this excerpt from her book, “A Long Time Coming”.
https://www.jacquelinehansen.com/2019/09/01/culver-city-my-home-course/
https://www.amazon.com/Long-Time-Coming-marathon-revolution-ebook/dp/B01DD06XNQ
http://www.jacquelinehansen.com/
2nd WR: http://tinyurl.com/JackiHansen
Coached by László Tábori (1988 article):
László Tábori seemed a little embarrassed when asked if he could have foreseen that Jacqueline Hansen would become one of this country’s premier distance runners after he began coaching her in the fall of 1970.
“Quite honestly, no”, he said.
Less than 3 years later, Hansen won the Boston Marathon. Twice, she set world marathon records, in 1975 becoming the first woman to run the 26.2-mile race faster than 2 hours 40 minutes(2:38:19).
But all Tábori could see in the fall of 1970, when he met the 21-year-old college junior, was that she had difficulty fitting into her running shorts. “I’ll admit it,” Hansen said. “I was fat.”
(For Subscribers): http://articles.latimes.com/1988-11-28/sports/sp-415_1_jacqueline-hansen
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression
2006-Josh Hembrough (Northern,MI) set a National H.S. Record of 7.85 in the 60-meter hurdles (42”) at the Clemson Invitation. He went on to become a 3-time Big-10 Champion while at Purdue—110-meter hurdles (2008,2009, 60m-hurdles (2008). Born deaf, he received cochlear implants at the age of 9.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGpik6lJ1pY
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/josh-hembrough-14240432
https://www.purdueexponent.org/features/article_f6ff1c49-18a2-5afd-a14a-4091533b3152.html
2007—A tribute to Larry James, who was battling cancer at the time (he passed away the following November). This is what I wrote at the time:
“It was an event as thrilling and memorable as a day at the Olympics. And no wonder–everywhere you looked, there were Olympians, many of them medalists.
Hosted by The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, an estimated 1,000 people showed up on December 1 to pay tribute to 2-time Olympic medalist “Mr. G. Larry James” for his “Four Decades of Excellence”. (James won gold [4×400] and silver[400] medals at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City).”
You can read the complete article here:
https://villanova.com/news/2007/12/18/A_Tribute_to_Larry_James.aspx
NY Times Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/sports/othersports/08james.html
Born On This Day*
Juliette Whittaker 22 (2003) 2024 NCAA Indoor & Outdoor Champion—800m (Stanford)
7th at the 2024 Olympics in Paris—had finished 3rd at the U.S. Trials
2022 U.S. Junior Champion; bronze medalist a 2022 World Junior/Under-20 Championships
Anchored Stanford to a win in the Distance Medley at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships…2nd in the 800
Also anchored the winning DMR at the 2023 Penn Relays
Set the U.S. High School Record of 1:59.04 at the 2022 U.S. Juniors (Mt. de Sales H.S.,MD)
2022 Penn Relays Champion-H.S. Mile; 2022 New Balance Nationals Indoor Champion-Mile
Semi-finalist at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials
T&F News 2022 Female Athlete of the Year
Currently a senior at Stanford (’26). One of her teammates is Roisin Willis, the 2022 World Junior Champion
at 800-Meters. With a best of 1:59.13, she and Whittaker are the 2 fastest preps in history.
Comes from a running family—from her Stanford bio:
Parents are Jill and Paul Whittaker…Both competed in track at Georgetown
Brother Alex competed in track and cross country at Yale; Sister Bella, a sprinter at Penn, also made the 2024 U.S.
Olympic team as a member of the 4×400 relay pool, but didn’t get to compete in Paris,
Coached through high school by her father; Competitive swimmer for seven years
Took a 10-week break from running in early 2025 before returning with a renewed passion for the sport (see link)
PBs: 1:59.53i (2024), 1:57.76 (2024), 2:39.41 (2022), 4:12.49 (2023), 4:30.92i (2024);
2025 SBs: 2:00.76, 4:15.11
H.S. PBs: 1:59.04 (HSR) also-1:59.80 (#4 performance), 2:00.18 (#9); 2:01.69i (#3 All-Time) also-2:00.07 (#7)
2:39.41i (HSR), 4:18.31i (#6 A-T), 4:37.23i (#6 A-T)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliette_Whittaker
https://gostanford.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/juliette-whittaker/20413
Post HSR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDyzOXVguOs
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a40785224/5-things-to-know-about-juliette-whittaker/
H.S. Stats (free signup required): https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=14049449
Olympic Sisters: https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=669414
Needing a Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0OdTSNAH8Q
Trials 800: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVyNuM-jUAA
Weini Kelati-Eritrea/USA (2021) 29 (1996)—2024 U.S. Champion-10,000m (Olympic Trials)…finished 8th at the Paris
Olympics
2024 U.S. X-Country Champion; 2022 U.S. Road 5k Champion, 2023 U.S. Road 10k Champion
Finished 4th in the 5000 and 10,000 at the 2025 U.S. Championships
2019 NCAA Champion (New Mexico)—10,000, X-Country
Other NCAA Finishes
2017—X-Country (7th, #2 scorer on New Mexico’s winning team)
2018—3000i (5th), 5000i (5th), 5000 (9th), X-Country (2nd)
2019—3000i (3rd), 5000i (2nd), 5000 (5th)
DNF in the 10,000 at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials; 4th in the 5000, 5th in the 10,000, at the 2022 U.S.
Championships; 8th in the 5000, 4th in the 10,000, at the 2023 U.S. Championships
7th in the 5k at at the 2023 World Road Racing Championships
Set an American Record of 1:06:25 at the 2024 Houston Half-Marathon, improved the Record to 1:06:09 at the
2025 race
High School (Heritage-Leesburg,VA)
2015 Foot Locker XC Champion (only the 2nd female FL champion to go on to win a NCAA XC title-Notre Dame’s
Molly Seidel was the 1st)
2016 New Balance Nationals Indoor and Outdoor Champion at 2-miles and 5000m)
2016 Penn Relays Champion-3000m
Native of Eritrea finished 8th in the 3000-meters at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, then,
looking for a better life in the U.S., she enrolled at Heritage H.S. in Leesburg,Va (where she was living with a
cousin since running in Eugene), in the fall as a 17-year old freshman. Because of her age, she only had 2 years
of H.S. eligibility.
PBs: 4:10.88 (2021), 8:53.89 (2019), 8:33.72i (2022),14:35.43 (2024/#7 All-Time U.S.),
30:33.82 (2024/#6 A-T U.S., also 30:38.60/2025, #9 performance), 1:06:09 (2025/NR)
2025 SBs: 8:45.31, 14:37.77,
High School PBs (all 2016):
9:19.99, (2-miles)10:02.71i, 10:00.38; 5000 (16:08.83i/#7 All-Time), 16:24.59)
Became a U.S. citizen in 2021.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weini_Kelati
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a20858385/new-friends-new-country-new-national-title/
Washington Post Article (Nov.2016)
https://trackandfieldnews.com/weini-kelatis-boldness-pays-off/
Secret Plan: ESPN
Andretti Bain—Bahamas 40 (1985) 2008 NCAA Indoor & Outdoor Champion—400m (Oral Roberts)
2008 Olympic silver medalist—4×400
PBs: 44.62 (2008), 46.02i (2008); Last competed in 2017
Named after Mario Andretti (parents were big fans of the auto-racing legend)
Currrently an Assistant Coach at Oral Roberts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andretti_Bain
https://oruathletics.com/staff-directory/andretti-bain/216
https://oruathletics.com/honors/hall-of-fame/andretti-bain/2
Stephanie Brown Trafton 46 (1979) 2008 Olympic gold medalist—Discus (2012-7th, 2004-Qual.)
Opening throw of 212-5 (64.74) in Beijing held up as she became the 1st American to win the
Olympic discus since 1932 (Lillian Copeland)
3-time U.S. Olympian finished 5th at the 2016 Trials in Eugene
3-time U.S. Champion (2009,2011,2012)
Former American Record holder (222-3/ 67.74-2012/now #4 All-Time U.S.); Last competed in 2017
All-American at Cal Poly/San Luis Obispo: NCAA 2002-4th, 2003-2nd
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Brown_Trafton
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/104930
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/stephanie-brown-trafton-14306659
Trying for 4: http://www.sacbee.com/sports/olympics/article86316687.html
Tisha Waller 55 (1970) Bronze medalist—1999 World Indoor Championships(High Jump)
5-time U.S. Champion(’96,’98,’99,’02,’04);
6-time U.S. Indoor Champion (’96,’98-’00, ’02,’03)
2-time U.S. Olympian—1996 (=9th), 2004(Qual.)
All-American at North Carolina:
NCAA-1990 (=6), 1991(2), 1992 (3); Indoors-1991 (2), 1992(3)
Held the American Indoor Record (6-7 [2.01]) for 14 years (1998-2012)…now #2 U.S. (#5 overall)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tisha_Waller
AR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J02qAqyZG-c
Alberto Cova–Italy 67 (1958) 1984 Olympic gold medalist—10,000m; 1983 World Champion
PBs: 13:10.06 (1985), 27:37.59 (1983)
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Cova
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/71929
Deceased
Kenny Moore 78 (1943-2022) 4th in the marathon at the 1972 Olympics(1968-14th); PB-2:11:36 (1070)
1967 U.S. X-Country Champion; 1971 U.S. Champion-Marathon
Set an American Record of 2:13:28 at the 1969 Fukuoka Marathon
All-American at Oregon: NCAA 1964 (5000-4th), 1966 (5000-8th); X-Country: 1963 (14th),
1964 (19th), 1965 (29th)
Became one of the great chroniclers of the sport during his tenure as a writer for Sports Illustrated
His activism helped win the freedom of imprisoned Ethiopian marathon champion Mamo Wolde.
Passed away in May, 2022 at the age of 78
https://trackandfieldnews.com/rip-olympian-writer-extraordinaire-kenny-moore/
https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a39864735/kenny-moore-dies-at-78/
https://forum.trackandfieldnews.com/forum/historical/1746600-kenny-moore-r-i-p
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78807
Author of “Bowerman and the Men of Oregon” and “Best Efforts”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/164230.Bowerman_and_the_Men_of_Oregon
Moore Gives a Reading(2006): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sah–lyZR1k
Honored by Nike(2017): https://sneakernews.com/2017/07/27/nike-cortez-kenny-moore-collection/
(Great collection of photos): http://oregonsportshall.org/timeline/kenny-moore-track-field/
Check this link for dozens of his SI articles: https://vault.si.com/author/kenny-moore
Alex Wilson-Canada 87 (1907-December 9, 1994) 4-time Olympic medalist:
1928-Bronze (4×400); 1932-Silver (800), Bronze (400, 4×400)
1930 British Empire Games Champion—440y
1932 NCAA Champion-440y (Notre Dame)…4th in 1930
Coached at Notre Dame from 1950-1972…previously coached at Loyola University (Chicago)
The Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame is named in his honor.
Member of the USTFCCCA and Loyola Halls of Fame
PBs: 47.3 (1932), 1:49.9 (1932)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/66280
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Wilson_(Canadian_sprinter)
https://fightingirish.com/alex-wilson-to-be-inducted-into-track-and-field-hall-of-fame/
https://olympic.ca/team-canada/alexander-wilson/
http://notredameclassof1969blog.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-alex-wilson-chronicles-part-i-by.html
Al Fitch 68 (1912-Feb.17, 1981) 1936 Olympic silver medalist—4×400
All American at USC-2nd in the 400 at the 1936 NCAA Championships
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78397
Gary Gubner 81 (1942-May 2, 2024) 2-time NCAA Champion—Shot Put (NYU/1963,1964/2nd-1962)
1962 U.S. Champion—Shot Put; 3-time U.S. Indoor Champion (1962-1964)
Set three World Indoor Records in 1962 (63-10 ¼ [19.46], 64-10 ¼ [19.77], 64-11 ¾ [19.80]).
Known for hitting ceilings (and breaking light fixtures!) in high school gyms during his prep career at DeWitt
Clinton H.S.(Bronx,NY)
1964 U.S. Olympian in weightlifting!
https://www.bethisraelchapel.com/obituaries/Gary-Gubner/#!/TributeWall
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_F1aP0nVsM/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gubner; https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/56983
http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/GaryGubner.htm
