This Day in Track & Field History, July 20, Emil Zatopek wins 10,000m, 5,000m and Marathon (1952), written and compiled by Walt Murphy

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

2026 Winter Middle Distance Training (800m-5,000m), Sunday, February 8, 2026, Week 5, Day 7, Sunday is your long day!

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Crestan, Molnar, and Klaver lead a record-breaking night in Ostrava

This Day in Track & Field–July 20

1876–It was the year that the U.S. celebrated the 100th anniversary of its birth, but it was also the year that saw the first Championships of the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, better known by its acronym, the IC4A.

For the three previous years, a series of informal foot races were held as “sideshows” in conjunction with the popular rowing regattas in Saratoga Springs,NY. After the running races grew in popularity, representatives from Amherst, Columbia, Harvard, Cornell, Union, Yale, Wesleyan, and Williams met in late 1875 and the new group was formed. A later meeting that also drew representatives from Brown, Trinity, Dartmouth, Princeton, and CCNY outlined the plans for the new group’s first official competition, which would take place in Saratoga on July 20, a day after the rowing regatta.

The very first IC4A Champion was Princeton’s T.A. Noble, who won the 3-mile walk. Among the other winners, who competed in front of an enthusiastic crowd, were Princeton’s J.M. Mann in the Shot Put (30-11 ½ [9.43]), his teammate R.A. Greene in the 1/2-mile (2:16 1/2), and Yale’s W.J. Wakeman, who set an American Record of 17-1/4 seconds in the 120-yard hurdles.

Shortly after Mann won the baseball throw with an impressive toss of 368’-6” (112.31), a heavy rainstorm pushed the remaining events to the following day. There were two double winners on the second day. Dartmouth’s E.C. Stimson won the 3-mile in 16:21–1/2, then came back to win the Mile in 4:58–1/2. And Williams’s H.W. Stevens won the 100-yard dash in 11-flat and the 1/4-mile in 56 seconds.

The IC4A remained an Eastern affair for many years, but then grew in national stature with the addition of schools from the Midwest (Michigan, Michigan State) and West (Cal-Berkeley, Stanford, Southern Cal, UCLA). Cal, Stanford, and USC won 16 team titles from 1921-1939. Those schools continued to participate at the ICs for about 20 years after the establishment of the NCAA Championships in 1921 (Some did both). The meet eventually reverted to a primarily Eastern competition. (From John Lucas’s “The IC4A Championships–a 100-year History”.)

Harvard at the IC4A: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1968/3/14/the-history-of-harvard-sports-pharvards/

1952–Emil Zátopek won the 10,000-meters on the first day of competition at the Olympic Games in Helsinki (29:17.0-Olympic Record)–the first leg of his amazing Olympic triple. He went on to win the 5000 on the 24^th (14:06.72) and the Marathon on the 27^th (2:23:03.2-OR).

Finishing 2^nd to Zátopek in the 5000 and 10,000 (in 1948 and 1952) was his good friend, France’s Alain “Ali” Mimoun, who would win the 1956 Olympic Marathon at the age of 35. Pat Butcher tells Mimoun’s story in “The Destiny of Ali Mimoun”. Butcher also writes about Zátopek in “Quicksilver, the Mercurial Emil Zátopek”. If you’re interested in purchasing either book, contact Pat at [email protected]

Emil Zatopek and Alain Mimoun, photo : Ethiosports, from archives, World Athletics

Walt Davis, who overcame polio as a child, won the High Jump with a clearance of 6-8 ¼ (2.04). The 6’-8” (2.03) Davis went on to play five seasons in the NBA with the Philadelphia Warriors and St.Louis Hawks. Check out the link below for a look at the various jumping styles in vogue at the time. Winning silver and bronze were Davis’s U.S. teammate Ken Wiesner (6-7 [2.01]) and Brazil’s José da Conceição (6-6 [1.98]).

This was the first Olympics for athletes from the Soviet Union and they made an immediate impact, sweeping the medals in the Women’s Discus, led by gold medalist Nina Romashkova (168-8 [51.42]).

Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1952_Summer_Olympics

Video of Zátopek’s 5k: http://www.runningpast.com/vintage_media.htm

Bill Squires describes the final lap. http://www.runningpast.com/emil_zatopek.htm#1952_5k

Wiki Bio-Davis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Davis

NBA-Davis: http://www.legendsofbasketball.com/alumni/walt-davis/

High Jump

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7T76GcJOQ

https://sportsmatik.com/sports/high-jump/about

1984–East Germany’s Uwe Hohn threw the javelin an amazing 343’-10’ (104.80) in East Berlin to destroy the previous World Record of 327’-2” (99.72), which was set by American Tom Petranoff the previous year. The Soviet boycott kept Hohn out of the L.A. Olympics, but he will always be remembered as the last man to hold the World Record using the “old” implement. Officials soon introduced a re-designed implement, one that would lead to point-first landings (and more accurate measurements—see below).

A 2^nd World Record was set in the Women’s High Jump by Bulgaria’s Lyudmila Andonova, who cleared 6-9 ½ (2.07). Andronova thought she was jumping at 6-9 (2.06), but a remeasurement after her clearance showed the bar was actually set at 2.07. Finishing 2nd at 6-6 (1.98) was the Soviet Union’s Tamara Bykova, the previous record holder (6-8 ¼ [2.05]).

WR Progressions

JT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_javelin_world_record_progression

HJ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_high_jump_world_record_progression

Hohn Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YPjh_WwWas

From javelin coach Jeff Gorski

l wanted you to know the IAAF changed the design specs on the javelin, effective in 1986, not because of distances thrown but to ensure a point first landing to end judgement calls in the field by officials. lt became urgent after the 1980 0lympics, when it was obvious to western reporters that Soviet/Latvian Danius Kula had 3 tail first landing throws, but was still advanced to the final and eventually ”won” the title.

Discussions by the IAAF began in 1981 and the decision to change the design specs to a more strict limit to tail taper and moving the CG forward 4cm to insure a point first landing of throws- the final design was approved in 1982 and those specs/limits in design were announced in 1984, to give javelin building companies 2 years to re-tool and get the new spears to the world-wide market. Distances thrown were never a factor.

https://worldathletics.org/news/feature/history-javelin-implement-specifications

1986–The inaugural World Junior Championships were held in Athens, Greece (July 16-20), and I was fortunate enough to be able to make that trip.

I received an excited call one day from old friend and veteran track writer Jim Dunaway, who said that if I acted quickly, I might get a free trip to Athens! It seems that the Greek National Tourist Organization (GNTO), like many other similar groups in Europe, had been stung by the dramatic drop in American tourism in 1986, caused by the fear of terrorist activity.

The GNTO, hoping to generate positive publicity surrounding the World Juniors, reached out to a handful of U.S. journalists and offered them the opportunity to cover the meet as their guests. Dunaway (who had offered my name to the GNTO) and historian Stan Saplin were among those already on board and there was one spot still available. I placed a call to the GNTO office in New York and was quite honest with them. I explained that my newsletter, Eastern Track, was far from being a mainstream publication, and was I really the type of journalist they were looking for? The representative replied that they’d be thrilled to have me, and boy, was I thrilled to be had!

Our small and giddy group, reveling in this gift from the track and field gods, flew from New York on Olympic Airways, headed for a first-time visit to the birthplace of the modern Olympics.

With athletes from over 140 countries in attendance, and despite the political climate of the day, the meet went off without incident. No boycotts, no protests, just good old-fashioned competition among the youth of the world, just as the Olympics once were.

The schedule of the meet was set up so that most of the finals were held in the evening, which freed up the rest of the day for sightseeing or a dip in the rooftop pool at the Holiday Inn. You could always find the British journalists around the pool, bemoaning the fact that the impending Commonwealth Games were being torn apart by the “bloody politicians”.

One tour organized by our hosts took us to the Acropolis and the Parthenon, as well as to the stadium that was the site of the 1896 Olympics. But the sightseeing highlight of the journey involved a day-trip to Delphi, where I visited a stadium built in the 5th Century, B.C. It was the site of the Pythian Games, which were held to honor the Greek god Apollo. (See links below)

The meet itself was almost an afterthought, but it proved to be a worthy addition to the international calendar.

Among the winners were future greats (and World Record holders) Colin Jackson, who won the 110-hurdles over British teammate Jon Ridgeon, and Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor, who beat future American Record holder Hollis Conway to win the High Jump.

Kenya’s Peter Chumba delighted the crowd by winning the 5k and 10k while running barefoot! As part of his warmdown after the 5k, he did calisthenics on the infield, then did wind-sprints on the straightaways during his victory lap.

Other notables on the American team included 17-year old Suzy Favor (9th in the1500), George Kersh (8th-800), Carlette Guidry (4th-200, 7th-lj), Maicel Malone (3rd-100), Curt Clausen(28th-10kw), and Shola Lynch. Lynch, the U.S. Junior Champion in the 800, was wearing an elastic wrap to protect a tender hamstring. It came loose on the first lap of her heat and she ran the rest of the race with it flapping around her ankle. A flustered Lynch could only manage a 2:14.52 in 6th place.

Members of the U.S. coaching and administrative staff included Ed Temple, the legendary coach from Tennessee State, Ron Bazil, Marshall Goss, Bob Fraley, Sue Humphrey, Louise Tricard, George Dales, Rick McGuire, and John Chaplin.

The U.S. won 3 of the 4 relays, but a seemingly unbeatable men’s lineup of Derrick Florence, Stanley Kerr, William Reed, and Mike Marsh couldn’t overcome two shaky passes and a strong team from Great Britain in the Men’s 4×100 and was ultimately disqualified for an out-of-zone final exchange.

Guidry and Malone teamed with Denise Liles and Caryl Smith to win the Women’s 4×100 (43.78). A lineup of Gisele Harris (53.2), Kandice Pritchett (53.2), Tasha Downing (52.2), and Janeene Vickers (51.90) set an American Junior Record of 3:30.45 to win the Women’s 4×400.

The highlight of the meet, at least from an American perspective, came in the final event of the Championships–the Men’s 4×400 relay.

Cuba had beaten the U.S. at the Pan-American Juniors, but the Americans had a “secret weapon” in Athens. William Reed, who had just completed a sensational sophomore year at Central H.S. in Philadelphia (3 Nat’l Indoor records, 45.1 split at the Penn Relays), was a disappointing 6th in the 400 at the U.S. Junior Championships, but had earned a spot on the relay with a win in Romania a week earlier. (Clovis Carter ran in Reed’s place in the qualifying round).

Clifton Campbell (46.0), Chip Rish (45.5), and Percy Waddle (45.9) gave Reed a 20-meter lead over Cuba’s feared anchor, Roberto Hernández, who had run 45.05 from the blocks earlier in the year. Hernández (44.7) cut the lead in half through a quick first 200, but Reed had plenty left and his great 44.5 split gave the U.S. the win. The time of 3:01.90 established a World Junior Record that would last until the 2004 World Juniors, when a U.S. team that included future stars LaShawn Merritt and Kerron Clement ran 3:01.09.

The journey ended with a party hosted by the IAAF for an intimate group of about 2,500 and it was the perfect way to end a perfect trip.

RELATED LINKS:

Pythian Games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythian_Games;

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cleisthenes-of-Sicyon

Delphi: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/393/

1986 Medalists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_World_Junior_Championships_in_Athletics

Full WJ History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAAF_World_Junior_Championships_in_Athletics

1988—Butch Reynolds overcame a sore hamstring and less-than-ideal weather conditions to win the Men’s 400-meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis (July 15-23). Running 43.93, he became the 3rd man in history to break 44-seconds, and the first to do it at low-altitude (Lee Evans set the World Record of 43.86 at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. Larry James finished 2^nd in 43.97). Also under 44-seconds was runnerup Danny Everett (43.98), while Steve Lewis, his teammate at UCLA, finished 3^rd in 44.37.

Reynolds would go on to break Evans’ WR by running 43.29 in Zurich in August, but he was upset in the Olympic final in Seoul by Lewis, with Everett completing the medal sweep in 3^rd.

Joe DeLoach (19.96) came from behind in the homestretch to edge Carl Lewis (20.01) in the Men’s 200, with a diving Roy Martin edging Albert Robinson (20.05 for both) to earn the coveted 3^rd spot on the U.S. team. It was the 2^nd heart-breaking finish for Robinson, who was also 4^th in the 100. DeLoach and Lewis would repeat their 1-2 finish in Seoul.

Lewis could be forgiven for his 2^nd-place finish, since it was his final effort in a busy week in which he had already qualified for Seoul in the 100 and Long Jump.

Women’s 400-meter Hurdles—Schowanda Williams (54.93), Leslie Maxie (55.29), Latanya Sheffield (55.70)

Results/Notes: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/1988.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/21/sports/olympic-trials-reynolds-turns-in-second-fastest-400.html

1998—The 2^nd day of the Goodwill Games in Uniondale, Long Island, produced many outstanding performances.

Mark Crear (13.06) won the 110-meter hurdles over a loaded field that included (with some of their past and future accomplishments):

2.Allen Johnson (13.10)..Gold medalist-1996 Olympics, 4-time World Champion (1995-1997-2001-2003)

3.Reggie Torian (13.16)…1997 NCAA Champion—former Collegiate Indoor Record holder in the 60m-hurdles (7.47)

4.Great Britain’s Colin Jackson (13.17)…World Record holder at the time (12.91) and 2-time World Champion

(1993,1999)

5.Cuba’s Anier García (13.39)…2000 Olympic Champion

(Crear was a 2-time Olympic medalist—silver in 1996, bronze in 2000)

Dan O’Brien, the World Record holder and reigning Olympic Champion, won the Decathlon (8755) over Chris Huffins (8576). It turned out to be the last full Decathlon of O’Brien’s career.

Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in the 800 and 1500, won the Women’s Mile (4:20.39) over Regina Jacobs (4:20.93) and Suzy Favor (4:22.93).

Cuba’s Ivan Pedroso (28-1/4 [8.54]) won the Long Jump over Erick Walder (27-6 [8.38]) and Marion Jones won the Women’s 200 in 21.80.

Medalists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1998_Goodwill_Games

Sports Illustrated Vault(Decathlon): https://vault.si.com/vault/1998/07/27/inside-track-and-field

2000—Only 2 finals on this day at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento.

Men’s Steeplechase—Pascal Dobert (8:15.77), Mark Croghan (8:16.20), and Tony Cosey (8:21.41), who edged Tim Broe (8:21.50) for the 3^rd spot on the team.

Men’s Javelin—Since winner Breaux Greer (266-0 [81.08]) never met the Olympic “A” qualifying standard within the prescribed window, runnerup (and American Record holder) Tom Pukstys (260-4 [79.36]), a member of the two previous U.S. Olympic teams (who had met the standard), was kept off the team! Greer, who had the “B” standard, would finish 12^th at the Sydney Olympics.

Results/Writeups: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2000.pdf

U.S. Olympic Trials History (Through 2021): https://trackandfieldnews.com/usa-olympic-trials-history/

2003—Among the medalists (gold unless otherwise noted) at the Pan-American Junior Championships in Bridgeton, Barbados (July 18-20) were future stars Churandy Martina (Netherlands Antilles-100/10.33), Jamaica’s Usain Bolt (200/20.13 [=World Junior Record]), Jeremy Wariner (400-silver/45.63), Galen Rupp (5000/14:20.29), Puerto Rico’s Javier Culson (400-Hurdles-bronze/5.10), Shalonda Solomon (100/11.35, 200/22.93), Dawn Harper (100-hurdles/13.32), Sharon Day (High Jump/6-3/4[1.85]), Chaunté Howard (HJ-bronze/5-11 ¼ [1.81]), and Michelle Carter (Shot Put/53-3 [16.23]).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Pan_American_Junior_Athletics_Championships

2012—In only his 4^th final in the event, Evan Jager finished 3^rd in the Steeplechase in Monaco with a time of 8:06.81, breaking Daniel Lincoln’s 6-year old American Record of 8:08.82.

Finishing ahead of Jager were the Kenyan duo of 17-year old Conseslus Kipruto (8:03.49), the newly-crowned World Junior Champion, and veteran Paul Koech (8:03.90).

Jager would twice improve his AR, first to 8:04.71 (2014) and then to 8:00.45 (2015).

Results: https://worldathletics.org/results/diamond-league-meetings/2012/monaco-herculis-7033730

2018–Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech took the World Record in the Women’s Steeplechase to another level in Monaco, running 8:44.32 to smash the previous standard of 8:52.78, which was set by Bahrain’s Ruth Jebet in 2016.

Finishing a distant 2^nd to Chepkoech was Courtney Frerichs, who ran 9:00.85 to break the American Record of 9:02.58, set in 2017 by Emma Coburn, who finished 4^th here in 9:04.56. (Jebet, the 2016 Olympic champion, was handed a 4-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for EPO in December, 2017. She was able to retain the gold medal and the WR).

Other Meet Records were set by Noah Lyles in the Men’s 200 (19.65, a personal best at the time), Botswana’s Nijel Amos, who won the Men’s 800 in 1:42.14, his fastest time since running his personal best of 1:41.73 while winning the silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, the Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who edged Bahrain’s Eid Salwa Naser in the Women’s 400 (48.97-49.08), and South Africa’s Caster Semenya in the Women’s 800 (1:54.60).

Russia’s Danil Lysenko tied the Meet Record in the Men’s High Jump with his clearance of 7-10 ½ (2.40/=#8 All-Time/Indoors-outdoors).

https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/monaco-diamond-league-chepkoech-world-record

LetsRun Coverage

Results: https://www.diamondleague.com/fileadmin/IDL_Default/files/documents/2018/Monaco/Results.pdf

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KINmrMrOlWU

Jebet: https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/news/a31258872/ruth-jebet-four-year-ban/

2019-A U.S. lineup of Arian Smith, Justin Ofotan, Marcellus Moore, and Matt Boling set a World Junior Record of 38.62 in the Men’s 4×100 at the 2019 Pan-American Junior Championships in San José, Costa Rica (July 19-21). Boling, also the winner of the 100 and 200, returned the following day to also help the U.S. set a World Junior Record of 2:59.30 in the Men’s 4×400.

(Full report tomorrow/7-21)

DyeStat Coverage: https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=6596&do=news&news_id=581335

2022–China’s Fing Ben’s opening throw of 226-9 (69.12) was enough to provide an upset win in the Women’s Discus at the World Championships in Eugene. Grabbing the silver medal was Croatia’s Sandra Perković (224-7 [68.45]), the World Champion in 2015 & 2017 (and 2-time Olympic Champion/2012, 2016), and the bronze went to 2021 Olympic Champion Valarie Allman (224-1 [68.35]) of the U.S. While disappointed that she didn’t win gold in front of the “home” crowd, Allman took pride in the fact that she became the first American to win a medal in this event at the WC.

It was the 5^th WC medal in a row for Perković, who also won silver in 2015 and bronze in 2019. Allman was happy for Perković, saying, “I feel so much joy for her to earn a medal at this championship. She’s been steadfast in her work ethic, her devotion to this sport and I’m truly happy for her.”

4 women were battling for the 3 medals as they approached the final water jump in the Women’s Steeplechase when Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto pulled away to win and set a WC Record of 8:53.02. Winning silver and bronze were the Ethiopian duo of Werkwuha Getachew (8:54.61) and Mekides Abebe (8:56.08). Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi finished 4^th in 9:01.31. It was the first time in history that 3 women had run under 9 minutes in the same race.

Jeruto, the 2011 World Youth Champion while competing for her native Kenya, missed the Tokyo Olympics due to her recent switch of allegiance to Kazakhstan, but gave an indication of things to come when she won the Steeplechase at the 2021 Prefontaine Classic here at Hayward Field!

Finishing 6^th and 8^th, respectively, were Americans Courtney Frerichs (9:10.59) and Emma Coburn (9:16.49), the silver and gold medalists at the 2017 World Championships. Frerichs was also the silver medalist at the 2021 Olympics.

Update: Jeruto was notified in April, 2023, that she was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for an Athlete Biological Passport violation. She was later reinstated. LetsRun Original Report Followup

https://www.athleticsintegrity.org/disciplinary-process/provisional-suspensions-in-force

Results

Discus: Report Allman

Steeple: Report Video

Born On This Day*

Krissy Gear 26 (1999) 2023 U.S. Champion—Steeplechase…ran down 10-time U.S. Champion Emma Coburn in the

homestretch

Dealing with a hamstring injury, she barely advanced out of the qualifying round at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials,

but was unable to finish in the final.

2022 NCAA Indoor Champion-Distance Medley (Arkansas/800 leg)

2^nd in the Mile at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships…5^th Outdoors in the 1500, 4^th in 2022

Began her collegiate career at Furman before transferring to Arkansas in 2020