This Day in Track & Field , January 21, Paavo Nurmi’s Magical 55 race tour continues (1925), written by Walt Murphy

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

This Day in Track & Field-January  21

1888—The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) was formed

https://aausports.org/timeline.php

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

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amateur-Athletic-Union-of-the-United-States

1925–After taking a well deserved three-day rest after his three races in three days odyssey in New York and Chicago, Paavo Nurmi resumed his U.S. tour at the St.Joseph’s A.C. meet at the 113th Infantry Regiment Armory in Newark, New Jersey.

Competing from scratch in a handicap race, Nurmi got his 9th and 10th World Records by setting new standards for 2-1/4 (10:42.0) and 2-3/4 (13:03.0) miles, but his en-route time of  11:54.4 fell short of the 2-1/2 mile standard of 11:53.4. Another Finnish great, Hannes Kolehmainen, the 1912 Olympic Champion at 5000 and 10,000 meters (and the individual x-country race), had set records at all three distances in one race in 1913.

At the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Kolehmainen was chosen to light the Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, after receiving the Olympic Flame from Nurmi, who carried it into the stadium

Nurmi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paavo_Nurmi

http://www.olympic.org/paavo-nurmi

Kolehmainen: http://www.olympic.org/hannes-kolehmainen

1956—Duke sophomore Dave Sime won a 3-race sprint series at the Washington Star Games in D.C. He won at 70-yards, tying the World Record of 7-flat, 80-yards in 8-flat, and 100-yards in the World Record time of 9.5. Andy Stanfield, the 1952 Olympic gold medalist at 200 meters, finished 2^nd in all 3 races. (From Track & Field News)

1972—It was another classic Lee Evans-Martin McGrady duel in the 600-yards at the San Francisco Examiner Games, with Evans coming from behind to nip his rival at the tape, with both clocking 1:10.3. It was only the 2^nd victory for Evans in the pair’s nine meetings at the distance.

Other highlights:

Mile: 1.Kip Keino (Kenya) 4:01.2, 2.Tom Von Ruden 4:01.5

2-Mile: 1.Frank Shorter 8:52.6, 2.Don Kardong 8:53.2, 3.George Young 8:53.4

60y-Hurdles: 1.Willie Davenport 7.1

“Senior” 60y: 1.Payton Jordan (54) 7.1

Wiki Bio(McGrady): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_McGrady

Results: http://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS//CTRN/ncrr27_1972-Jan.pdf

1977–Fans at the Philadelphia Classic saw plenty of stars in action, including Dwight Stones, winner of the High Jump      (7-5  ¼ [2/27]), 2-mile winner Frank Shorter (8:40.2), Eamonn Coghlan, who beat fellow Villanova alum Marty Liquori in the mile (4:03.4-4:04.2), and Francie Larrieu (Smith), who ran a modest 2:48.0 to beat Jan Merrill (2:49.7), and 16-year old Lynn Jennings (2:51.3) in the 1000m. But the meet is more notable for the fact that it was the first major invitational to utilize fully-automatic timing in the sprint/hurdles races: Men’s 60y (Steve Riddick-6.17); men’s 60-hurdles (Willie Davenport 7.17); Women’s 60y (Freida Davy-6.94).

   As often happened during his indoor career, Stones was still jumping long after the rest of the events had been completed. After lending his metric tape to meet officials, Stones, who had won his 2^nd Olympic bronze medal the previous summer in Montreal, had cleared 7-5  ¼ (2.27m) to set a meet record and a 1977 best.

He then had the bar raised to 7-7 (2.31), ½” higher than his World Indoor Record of 7-6  ½ (2.30). The most track-knowledgeable athlete in the sport said as he was getting ready for one of his attempts, “Do you realize if I clear this, all the 7’7” jumps in history will have been made in Philadelphia?” (Stones had set Outdoor WRs of 7-7 (2.31) and  7-7  ¼ (2.32) at Franklin Field the previous year). Alas, it was not to be, but he still got a warm round of applause from the hearty fans  who stuck around to watch him jump.

There had been talk about a possible World Record in the Women’s 1000, but Larrieu was more concerned about beating Merrill, who had become a serious challenger to her role as the #1 female middle-distance runner in the U.S.

Always keeping an eye on her rival, Larrieu was content to sit behind Merrill before taking the lead with a lap to go and pulling away for an unexpectedly easy win.

NY Times Coverzge

1977–Arkansas’ Niall O’Shaughnessy ran 2:05.5 in Columbia, Missouri, to break Mike Boit’s Collegiate Record (2:06.0) in the 1000y.

1978–Past, current, and future international NCAA stars (their eventual NCAA wins would add up to a total of 28!) hooked up in an epic 2-mile duel at the Sunkist meet in Los Angeles.

Going to the line were Nick Rose (Great Britain), the former Western Kentucky star who had won three NCAA titles (‘74 XC, ‘75-’76 Indoor 2-mile); Washington State sophomore Henry Rono (Kenya), who had already won three of his eventual six NCAA titles (‘76,’77,’79-XC, ‘77-Indoor 2-mile, ‘78, ‘79-Steepelchase); and Suleiman Nyambui (Tanzania), who had won two AAU Indoor 3-mile titles (he would win his 3rd straight later in the ‘78 season), but hadn’t yet started his remarkable collegiate career at UTEP, where he would win an incredible 15 NCAA titles (‘80-XC, ‘79-’82, Indoor Mile, ‘79,’80,’82-Indoor 2-mile, ‘80-’82, 5k, ‘79-’82, 10k).

Rose, impatient after a slow opening 1/4-mile, threw in a 59.2 split that left a surprised Rono some 40 yards behind the leaders. Rose kept pushing the pace, followed by Nyambui and Duncan Macdonald, the 1976 U.S. Olympian at 5,000 meters. Meanwhile, Rono gradually moved up to join those three as they went through the mile in 4:09.2. Losing contact was UTEP’s  James Munyala (Kenya), an eventual 4-time NCAA Champion (‘75-’77, steeplechase, ‘78-indoor mile). Macdonald would also soon drop off the pace.

Rono made a bold move into the lead with 3-1/2 laps remaining, followed by Nyambui and Rose. Veteran announcer Stan Eales had already stirred up the 12,000 fans by keeping them informed of the fast pace, and now they were on their feet as Nyambui passed Rono with a lap to go. As both maneuvered around lapped runners on that final lap, Nyambui was able to hold off Rono by the barest of margins as they ran 8:18.0 and 8:18.3, at the time the 2nd and 3rd fastest times in history (Belgium’s Emiel Puttemans set the world record of 8:13.2 in 1973). Rose hung in there to finish 3rd in 8:20.3, good for #5 on the all-time list. Rono’s time is still the Collegiate Record.

1983—Three World Records were set at the Sunkist Inv. in Los Angeles. Billy Olson cleared 18-10  ¾ (5.76) in the Pole Vault to break his own week-old mark of 18-10  ¼ (5/75), Evelyn Ashford ran 5.77 for 50-yards, and Mary Slaney ran 9:31.7 for the rarely-contested 2-miles (Jan Merrill had run 9:31.7 in 1979 in a race that included men).

In other events, Houston McTear (5.28) won the Men’s 50y over Stanley Floyd (5.31) and Herschel Walker (5.35), while Ron Brown (6.11) won the 60y over Walker (6.20) and Floyd (6.22).

Eamonn Coghlan, bouncing back from an injury-plagued 1982 season, won the mile in 3:55.4.

2012—Strymar Livingston (Columbus,NY) set a U.S. High School Indoor Record of 1:01.68 for 500 meters at NY’s Armory. The record stood for 10 years until Will Sumner (Woodstock,GA) ran 1:01.25 on January 15, 2022.

Born On This Day*

Ashton Eaton  38 (1988) 2-time Olympic gold medalist-Decathlon (2012,2016)

2-time World Champion (2013,2015/2011-silver medalist);

Set 2 World Records-9039 (2012), 9045 (2015/broken by France’s Kevin Mayer in 2018—9126);

3-time World Indoor Champion-Heptathlon (2012, 2014, 2016);

Set 3 World Records in the Heptathlon-6499 (2010), 6568 (2011), 6645 (2012/current)

4-time U.S. Champion-Decathlon (2011-2013,2016);

3-time NCAA Champion-Decathlon (Oregon/2008-2010); 2-time NCAA Indoor Champion-Heptathlon (2009,2010)

Ranked #6 in the world in the 400-meter hurdles in 2014! (best of 48.69)

PBs:10.21 (’12), 45.00 (’15), 13.35 (’11), 48.69 (’14), 17-8  ½ (5.40/’15), 27-0 (8.23/’12), 6645(’12/WR/also

  has scores of 6632 [2014/#3], 6568 [2011/#4], and 6499 [2010/#8])

  9045 (’15/#2 All-Time/also-9039 [2012], #3 performance)

College PBs: 6499 (2010/#3 All-Time), 8457(2010/#9 All-Time)

Married to Canadian Brianne Theisen, the silver medalist in the Heptathlon at the 2015 World

    Championships and the bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympics (couple retired after the 2016 season).

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton_Eaton

Oregon Love Story: https://www.uoalumni.com/s/1540/21/interior.aspx?sid=1540&gid=3&pgid=1148

https://goducks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/ashton-eaton/1234

ESPN-World’s Greatest Athlete?

All-Time Lists: https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/

2012 Trials

Videos

2012 O.T.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_3rsDoV72Y

2015 WC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keDJpTVstHc

2012 O.G.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERFliJxK1XE

2016 O.G.(last 2 events): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrApamjU7a0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4Lm3M2RJI

Concession stand at the new Hayward Field

(picture included in the attached Word file)

Tariku Bekele—Ethiopia  39 (1987)   2012 Olympic bronze medalist-10,000m; 2008 World Indoor Champion–3000m

PBs-5000 (12:52.45/’08), 10,000 (27:03.24/’12); Marathon-2:09:33/’17); Last competed in 2020

Younger brother of Kenenisa Bekele, the formerWorld Record holder in the 5k and 10k.

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariku_Bekele

https://worldathletics.olrg/athletes/ethiopia/tariku-bekele-14181358

https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/115331

Amy Hastings-Cragg  42 (1984)  Bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2017 World Championships

2006 NCAA Indoor Champion—5000m (Arizona St.);  2012 Olympian-10,000 (11th);

4^th in the marathon at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials

         Winner at the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials—9th in Rio

         Citing illness (Epstein-Barr virus), she withdrew from the 2020 Trials

Winner of the 2020 New Orleans Half-Marathon (1:16:53) (last time she competed)

Ran a personal best of 2:21:42 at the 2018 Tokyo Marathon (finished 3^rd)

PBs-5000-15:09.59(’13), 10,000-31:10.69 (’12), Marathon-2:21:42 (’18)

Married in 2014 to Irish Olympian Alistair Cragg, who won seven NCAA titles while at Arkansas

Couple coach the Puma training group in Chapel Hill, NC

Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Hastings

https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/amy-cragg-14312171

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020/02/20/amy-cragg-withdraws-marathon-olympic-trials/

Next Step: https://www.womensrunning.com/culture/people/amy-cragg-next-step/

Elva Goulbourne—Jamaica  46 (1980)  5-time NCAA Champion while at Auburn

(2002- Long Jump Indoor and outdoor; 2003- Long Jump Indoor and outdoor, Triple Jump Indoor)

2-time Junior College Champion while at Central Arizona (2000,2001)

2000 Olympian-Long Jump (9^th); 2002 Commonwealth Games champion—Long Jump

Competed in the Long Jump at 4 World Championships (‘01-10^th, ’03-Q, ’05-11^th, ’07-Q)

Bronze medalist in the 4×100 at the 2001 World Championships

Former co-holder of the Collegiate Indoor Record (22-8 [6.91]/2002). Now =#3.

Set the current Penn Relays Record of 21-10 (6.65) in 2003…also won in 2002

PBs: 11.20 (2003), 22.98 (2003), 23-6 (7.16/2004/National Record)

http://www.ustfccca.org/ncaa-100/elva-goulbourne-auburn-2002-2003-ncaa-outdoor-championships-long-jump

     https://auburntigers.com/news/2003/5/27/Elva_Gouldbourne_Wins_Honda_Sports_Award_For_Track_and_Field.aspx

https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/jamaica/elva-goulbourne-14285695