by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field-September 6
1924—Charley Paddock ran 9.6 in West Orange, NJ, to equal the official World Record for 100-yards for the 4th time in his career.
1955–Hungary’s László Tábori came from behind in the last 5 meters to edge Denmark’s Gunnar Nielsen in the 1500-meters in Oslo as both were clocked in 3:40.8, which equaled the World Record set by Sándor Iharos of Hungary just six weeks earlier. Iharos was an interested spectator at this meet.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
NY Times(for subscribers): https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/09/07/82670878.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
1960–In one of the closest Olympic finishes ever, American Otis Davis edged a lunging Carl Kaufmann (Germany) to win the Men’s 400-meters–both runners were credited with a World Record of 44.9 (auto-times were 45.07-45.08). 3rd was South Africa’s Malcolm Spence (45.5/45.60)
Davis, who was 7th in the 440y at the 1959 NCAA Championships, joined the Air Force after high school, then entered the University of Oregon on a basketball scholarship at the age of 25. He didn’t fit into Oregon’s style of play, so his coach suggested he go out for the track team, where Hall of Fame coach Bill Bowerman soon discovered he had something special in Davis! He was the first Oregon athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in T&F.
Davis, who lived in New Jersey at the time, traveled to Eugene in 2020 to partake in a ceremony to celebrate the unveiling of his image on the new Hayward Field Tower. He joined four other University of Oregon greats whose likenesses already graced the structure-legendary coach Bill Bowerman, Steve Prefontaine, Raevyn Rogers, and Ashton Eaton.
Taking the lead after 800-meters from France’s Michel Jazy, the man he feared the most, Australia’s Herb Elliott went into his customary long drive, extending his lead with every stride as he went on to win the Men’s 1500-meters in 3:35.6. His time broke his own World Record of 3:36.0 and his 2.8s margin of victory over Jazy (3:38.4) was the biggest ever in an Olympic 1500 final. The bronze medal was won by Hungary’s István Rózsavölgyi (3:39.2). Americans Dyrol Burleson and Jim Grelle, both part of Oregon’s great history, finished 6th and 8th, respectively. Burleson ran 3:40.9 to break his own American Record of 3:41.3.
Rafer Johnson and C.K. Yang, good friends and former UCLA teammates, waged one of the greatest Decathlon battles in history. Yang had better performances in seven of the ten events, but Johnson’s superiority in the Shot Put and Discus made the difference as he won the gold medal with an Olympic Record score of 8,392 points. Yang, competing for Formosa, scored 8,334 points (pre-1984 scoring tables). The Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Vasiliy Kuznetsov (7809) finished 3rd.
Poland’s Józef Schmidt won the first of his two Olympic gold medals in the Triple Jump with an Olympic Record leap of 55-2 (16.81m). American Ira Davis had the bronze medal in his pocket after jumping 53-10 ¼ (16.41m) in the 3rd round, but lost it when Soviet Vitold Kreyer jumped 53-11 (16.43) in the final round. It was small consolation to Davis that he had bettered his own American Record of 53-4 ¼ (16.26). Another Soviet, Vladimir Goryayev(54-6 ¾ [16.63]), won the silver medal.
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1960_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: http://www.olympedia.org/editions/15/sports/ATH
WR Progressions:
400: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_400_metres_world_record_progression
1500: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
Elliott Photos: http://tinyurl.com/gv97s;
SI-Pre-Olympic Story(Elliott-Burleson): https://vault.si.com/vault/1960/05/30/the-new-herb-elliott
Rafer Johnson Photos: http://tinyurl.com/lc6um
1500 Video Comments by Elliott
Decathlon Duel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnX9ccH8va4
Otis Davis
Video(400-includes celebration): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_dHu-X9KtE
Honored by Oregon:
www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/12/former_olympian_otis_davis_honored_by_university_o.html
45 Seconds of Glory: https://www.rollbamaroll.com/2012/6/25/3105669/otis-davis-45-seconds-of-glory
1968—The main portion of the meet wouldn’t start for another three days, but the U.S. Olympic Trials officially began with the first day of the Decathlon in the unlikely setting of Echo Summit, a mountain pass in the South Lake Tahoe area of California.
Trying to emulate the conditions athletes would face at the Olympics in Mexico City, with its elevation of 7,382’ (2550m), U.S. officials decided to hold the “Final” Trials (the first Trials were held in L.A. in June) in the similar altitude of Echo Summit.
Competing on a track carved out of a forest, with some huge trees still standing in the infield, Bill Toomey won the 2-day event with a score of 8,222 points (pre-1984 tables). Joining him on the U.S. team were Rick Sloan (7800) and Tom Waddell (7706). Former World Record holder Russ Hodge, slowed by a thigh injury, finished 10th (7186). Toomey would go on to win the gold medal in Mexico City. Waddell, founder of the Gay Games, died of the AIDS virus in 1987
Bob Burns did a great job of capturing the essence of the Trials in his book, “The Track In The Forest” (see link below).
Toomey’s marks:
10.5, 7.79, 13.91 (45-7 ¾), 2.00 (6-6 ¾), 46.4, 14.7, 44.55 (146-2), 4.00 (13-1 ½), 64.18 (210-7), 4:47.2
Results: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1968.pdf
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1968/09/23/triumph-and-tragedy-at-tahoe
Waddell
Living With AIDS(Excellent ABC Video):
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/tom-waddell-man-who-lived-with-AIDS-23418589
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Waddell
http://www.espn.com/boston/story/_/id/11305954/tom-waddell-amazing-man-gay-games
History of the U.S. Trials: https://trackandfieldnews.com/usa-olympic-trials-history/
The Track in the Forest:
https://www.amazon.com/Track-Forest-Creation-Legendary-Olympic/dp/0897339371
https://www.chicagoreviewpress.com/track-in-the-forest–the-products-9780897339377.php
1972—With Olympic head Avery Brundage declaring that “The Games must go on”, and the Olympic flag flying at half-mast, a Memorial Service was held in a packed Olympic Stadium in Munich in honor of the victims of the previous day’s attack. Competition in some sports resumed later in the day.
http://www.stripes.com/news/games-must-go-on-says-brundage-1.36208
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/munich-massacre-remembered/
1981—The 3rd World Cup (Sep.4-6) came to a close in Rome, Italy. Among the notable winners/events:
Men
100—1.Alan Wells (GBR) 10.20…9.Carl Lewis (USA) 10.96 (“jogged” the last 15 meters)
200—1.Mel Lattany (USA) 20.21, 2.Wells 20.53
800—1.Seb Coe (GBR) 1:46.16
1500—1.Steve Ovett (GBR) 3:34.95, 2.John Walker (NZL) 3:35.49
Steeplechase—1.Boguslaw Maminski (POL) 8:19.89 (“winner” Henry Marsh [USA/8:19.31) was disqualified
for running around the penultimate water jump)
5000—Eamonn Coghlan (IRL) 14:08.39…6.Matt Centrowitz (USA) 14:11.14
110h—1.Greg Foster (USA) 13.32
400h—1.Edwin Moses (USA) 47.37
Long Jump—1.Carl Lewis (USA) 26-9 (8.15)
Hammer—1.Yuriy Syedikh (URS) 254-0 (77.42)
Women
100—Evelyn Ashford (USA) 11.02
200—Ashford 22.18
400—1.Jarmila Kratochvilova (CZE) 48.61, 2.Marita Koch (GDR) 49.21
High Jump—1.Ulrike Meyfarth (FRG) 6-6 (1.96)
Team Scores
Men-1.Europe 147, 2. East Germany 130, 3.USA 127, 4.Soviet Union 118
Women-1.East Germany 120-1/2, 2.Europe 110, 3.Soviet Union 98, 4.USA 89
Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_IAAF_World_Cup_–_Results
Videos: W400 M100 M200 M800 M1500
1987–Somalia’s Abdi Bile, the 2-time NCAA Champion from George Mason, won the Men’s 1500-meters in 3:36.80 on the last day of competition at the 2nd World Championships in Rome. Covering his final 800-meters in 1:46.6, Bile beat a field that included Spain’s José Luis González (Silver/3:38.03) American Jim Spivey, who won the bronze medal (3:38.82), Great Britain’s Steve Cram (8th-3:41.19), the defending champion who had the lead with 100-meters to go, and American Steve Scott (12th-3:45.92).
Bile donated the singlet he wore in Rome to the MOWA (Museum of World Athletics) Heritage collection during the 2022 World Championships in Eugene.
https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/bile-lagat-mowa-exhibit-eugene
In the highest-quality competition to date, Sweden’s Patrik Sjöberg, the World Record holder, won the Men’s High Jump over Soviets Igor Paklin and Gennadiy Avdeyenko, the defending champion. All 3 cleared 7-9 ¾ (2.38), with Sjöberg grabbing gold by clearing on his 1st attempt, while the other two cleared on their 3rd and tied for 2nd place. Finishing 4th at 7-8 ½ (2.35) was West Germany’s Dietmar Mögenburg, the 1984 Olympic Champion.
In his comments at the beginning of NBC’s show, Dwight Stones picked Sjöberg to win, and said that Valery(aka/Valeriy) Brumel, Dwight’s idol, whom he had met for the 1st time in Rome during an interview for NBC, had told him to keep an eye on his fellow Soviets, Paklin and Avdeyenko. Two pretty good prognosticators!
After keeping his opponents guessing by provisionally entering the 800, 1500, 5000, and 10,000, all of which he could have won, Morocco’s Said Aouita chose the 5000, the event he won at the 1984 Olympics. Uncorking a last lap of 52.9 in a tactical race, he ran away from the field to win in 13:26.44. Winning silver and bronze were Portugal’s Domingos Castro (13:27.59) and Great Britain’s Jack Buckner (13:27.74). There were quite a few notable “also-rans” in the race—7.Tim Hutchings (GBR/ 13:30.01), 8.Dioniso Castro (Domingos’ twin/13:30.94), 9.Frank O’Mara (IRL/13:32.04), 10.Steve Ovett (GBR/13:33.49), 11.Sydney Maree (USA/13:33.78), 12.John Ngugi (KEN/ 13:34.04), 13.John Treacy (IRL/13:41.03), 14. Abel Antón (ESP/13:43.58).
Great Britain’s Fatima Whitbread had lost the gold medal in the Women’s Javelin in the last round at the 1983 Worlds, but it was now her turn to come from behind, throwing 240-0 (73.16) in the 4th round to overtake East Germany’s Petra Felke (235-5 [71.76]), the World Record holder. Whitbread would improve to 251-5 [76.64] in the 5th round. Finishing 3rd was West Germany’s Beate Peters (225-9 [68.82])
The surprise winner of the Men’s Marathon was Kenya’s Douglas Wakihuri (2:11:48), who was based in Japan. 2nd and 3rd were Djibouti’s Ahmed Salah (2:12:30) and Italy’s Gelindo Bordin (2:12:40), who would win Olympic gold the following year in Seoul.
Carl Lewis ran down the Soviet Union’s Vladimir Krylov to give the U.S. the win in the Men’s 4×100 relay (37.90-38.02). 3rd was Jamaica (38.41). Preceding Lewis for the U.S. were Lee McRae, Lee McNeill, and Harvey Glance. Ben Johnson, who had beaten Lewis in the 100-meters and set a “World Record” of 9.83, ran the lead-off leg for Canada. Johnson, of course, was later stripped of his 100 title and the World Record after admitting to drug use.
Aided by excellent passing, a U.S. lineup of Alice Brown, Diane Williams, Florence Griffith (who ran a great 3rd leg), and Pam Marshall, the U.S. beat a strong East German team (41.95) to win the Women’s 4×100 in 41.58. That time just missed the American Record of 41.55 that was set by the same foursome in Berlin the previous month. 3rd in 42.33 was the Soviet Union.
Medalists in the Women’s 4×400 were East Germany (3:18.63/CR), the Soviet Union (3:19.50), and the U.S. (3:21.04).
Danny Everett (45.1), Roddie Haley (44.0), Antonio McKay (44.2), and Butch Reynolds (44.0) combined to give the U.S. the win in the Men’s 4×400 relay, setting a Championships Record of 2:57.29. 2nd and 3rd were Great Britain (2:58.86) and Cuba (2:59.16).
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_World_Championships_in_Athletics
Athletics Weekly: https://www.athleticsweekly.com/london-2017/iaaf-world-championships-history-rome-1987-62714/
Videos: M1500 M5000 M-MAR: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 MHJ WJT #1 #2 M4x100 W4x100 W4x400 M4x400 NBC Coverage
1992–Algeria’s Noureddine Morceli ran 3:28.86 for 1500-meters in Rieti, Italy, to break Saïd Aouita’s
7-year old World Record of 3:29.46.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noureddine_Morceli
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/algeria/noureddine-morceli-14180666
2001–There are many fans who love watching a tactical distance race, regardless of how slow the early pace might have been. The sight of world-class distance runners imitating sprinters on the final lap certainly can be entertaining, but the participants in the Men’s 5000-meters at the 2001 Goodwill Games (Sep.4-7) in Brisbane, Australia, took that scenario to an absurd level.
Seven of the best distance runners in the world went to the starting line: (with 2001 bests) Kenyans Paul Bitok (13:00.10), Luke Kipkosgei (13:02.25), John Kibowen (12:59.97), Sammy Kipketer (12:59.34), and Richard Limo (12:56.72), and Ethiopians Hailu Mekonnen (12:58.57) and Million Wolde (13:02.17). Limo, Wolde, and Kibowen had swept the medals at the previous month’s World Championships in Edmonton.
With no rabbits to force an “honest” pace, and with prize money in the back of their minds, the seven runners basically jogged for most of the race, with the tempo finally picking up with 2-1/2 laps to go. With plenty of energy left in his legs, Bitok offered the best impression of Michael Johnson, running his final 400-meters in 51-seconds to come away with the win in 15:26.10. Not 14:26.10, which would have been slow enough, but 15:26.10! That would have given Bitok 7th place in the Women’s 5000, and it was the slowest winning time ever (BY FAR!) in a major meet. Kipkosgei (15:26.61) finished 2nd, followed by Kibowen (15:26.63), Mekonnen (15:26.70), Kipketer (15:27.94), Limo (15:28.00), and Wolde(15:30.51).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2001/sep/07/athletics.duncanmackay
Medalists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2001_Goodwill_Games
2020—Germany’s Johannes Vetter threw a scare into Jan Železný’s 24-year old World Record in the Javelin (323-1 [98.48]) when he reached out to 320-9 (97.76) in Chorzów, Poland. Vetter also had a throw of 311-2 (94.84) on this day.
Vetter now has an equal share of the All-Time Top-10 list with Železný, with each having 5 entries:
From T&F News(https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/world-all-time-list-men/)
(!-secondary mark within a series)
98.48 | 323-1 Jan Železný (Czech Republic) 5/25/96
97.76 | 320-9 Johannes Vetter (Germany) 9/06/20
96.29 | 315-11 ————Vetter 5/29/21
95.66 | 313-10 ————Železný 8/29/93
95.54 | 313-5 ————Železný 4/06/93
95.34 | 312-9 ————Železný ! 8/29/93
94.84 | 311-2 ————Vetter ! 9/06/20
94.64 | 310-6 ————Železný 5/31/96
94.44 | 309-10 ————Vetter 7/11/17
94.24 | 309-2 ————Vetter ! 5/29/21
Born On This Day*
Tom Pappas 49 (1976) 2003 World Champion—Decathlon (Beat World Record holder Roman Šebrle);
1999 NCAA Champion (Tennessee)
2003 World Indoor Champion—Heptathlon
3-time U.S. OIympian (2000-5th, 2004-DNF, 2008-DNF)
5-Time U.S. Champion-Decathlon (2000,2002,2003,2006,2007)
2-time U.S. Indoor Champion-Heptathlon (2000,2002)
PBs–6361i (2003/#5 All-Time U.S.), 8784 (2003/#7-All-Time U.S.)
https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Pappas
https://tshf.net/halloffame/pappas-tom/
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/89156
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/tom-pappas-14247925
Holli Hyche 54 (1971) 7-time NCAA Champion while at Indiana State
Outdoors (1993-100,200/1994-100, 2nd-200)
Indoors (1993-60,200/1994-60,200
PBs: 11.03 (1994), 22.34 (1993)
Sports Illustrated: https://vault.si.com/vault/1994/06/13/holli-hyche
T&F News Cover: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/1993_08.jpg
https://gosycamores.com/honors/hall-of-fame/holli-hyche/143
Video(’94 NCAA 100): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwkXnp71cjo
Feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDiSXQlCYUg
Mark Belger 69 (1956) 3-time NCAA Indoor Champion (Villanova)—1000y-’76, 880y-‘77,’78)
NCAA Outdoors-800m: ’75(y)-8th, ’76-3rd, ’77-2nd, ’78-8th
1977 U.S. Champion—800m, 1983 U.S. Indoor Champion—1000y
Winner of a record (at the time) ten Penn Relays watches
1975: 4x880y, 4xMile
1976: 4×800, Distance Medley
1977: 4×800, Sprint Medley, Distance Medley
1978: 4×800, Sprint Medley, Distance Medley
Winner of the first Millrose H.S. Mile (1974/Mepham,NY).
PBs: 1:45.81 (1977), 2:19.95 (1982), 3:39.30 (1979), 3:58.4 (1979)
(2013 Article): http://villanovarunning.blogspot.com/2013/04/these-five-things-mark-belger.html
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Belger
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/25/sports/the-new-belger-has-new-confidence.html
Deceased
Bob Parks 90 (1930-March 3, 2021) Head coach at Eastern Michigan from 1967-2001
Among the athletes he coached were Olympians Hasely Crawford (1976 gold medalist-100m), Earl
Jones (1984 bronze medalist-800m), Paul McMullen
Daughter Sue is the current Associate Head Coach at Eastern Michigan
USTFCCCA Hall of Fame: http://www.ustfccca.org/awards/bob-parks-ustfccca-class-of-2000
Johnny “The Elder” Kelley 97 (1907-Oct.6, 2004) One of the legends of the Boston Marathon
Won the prestigious race twice (1935, 1945) and finished second seven times. He continued to
appear in the race into his 80s, competing in it 61 times, his last coming in 1992. (From
Olympedia)
2-time U.S. Olympian: 1936 (18th), 1948 (21st)
2-time U.S. Champion (1948, 1950)
PB: 2:28:18 (1940)
Quotes:
“For me, the race these days is to try to beat the girls to the finish and to wave to all my
old friends along the course.”— Kelley at age 65
“I’m afraid to stop running. I feel too good. I want to stay alive.”— Kelley at age 70
Not to be confused with Johnny “The Younger” Kelley, who won Boston in 1957
www.nytimes.com/2004/10/08/sports/othersports/john-a-kelley-marathoner-dies-at-97.html
https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/johnny-kelley-beloved-icon-boston-marathon/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Kelley
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78639
http://www.runningpast.com/johna.htm
Video(1935): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVKnxRaoV_A
Career Stats: https://more.arrs.run/runner/-4209
