by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
(c)Copyright 2025, all rights reserved. May not be reprinted or retransmitted without permission.
This Day in Track & Field-October 21
(’64 OG-Bikila, Snell, Hayes-Carr; Bill Rodgers, Waitz, Steve Jones/Birthdays-Kenneth Rooks, Anderson Peters, Natalie Dye, Mike Tully)
1964–Ethiopia’s legendary Abebe Bikila, who had his appendix removed only six weeks earlier, won his 2nd Olympic Marathon title on the final day of action at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. Winning silver and bronze were Great Britain’s Basil Heatley (2:16:19.2) and Japan’s Kokichi Tsuburaya (2:16:22.8).
Bikila, who ran barefoot when he won his first gold medal four years earlier at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, wore shoes this time as he ran a world best of 2:12:11.2. He won by more than 4 minutes, still the most significant margin of victory since the 1924 Olympics. Tragically, Bikila was involved in an automobile accident the following year that left him paralyzed from the waist down, and he died from a brain hemorrhage in 1973 at the age of 41. 3rd-placer Tsuburaya’s life also had a tragic ending, the 27-year-old committing suicide before the 1968 Olympics, where he was expected to compete again in the Marathon. Read his full story at: http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/72647.
Other notable finishers in the race included Americans Buddy Edelen, who finished a credible 6th (2:18:12.4), and Billy Mills (14th-2:22:55.4). Australian Ron Clarke, who set a fast early pace in the race, finished 9th (2:20:26.8).
New Zealand’s Peter Snell finished off his double gold medal performance by winning the 1500-meters (3:38.1) five days after defending his title in the 800-meters (1:45.1).
Content to stay off the lead in a slow-paced race (3:00/1200m), Snell exploded on the final backstretch, moving to the front and pulling away to win by 1.5 seconds.
There was a 5-way battle for silver and bronze, with Czech Josef Odložil (3:39.6) and New Zealand’s John Davies (3:39.6) winning out over Great Britain’s Alan Simpson (3:39.7), American Dyrol Burleson (3:40.0), and Poland’s Witold Baran (3:40.3)
Running arguably the greatest 100-meters in history (at the time), Bob Hayes brought the U.S. team from behind on the anchor leg to win the Men’s 4×100 relay, with the team setting a World Record of 39.0 (39.06). Relay splits in the 4×100 are always open to debate, but Hayes was timed as fast as 8.6 for his carry. Running the first three legs for the U.S. were Paul Drayton, Gerry Ashworth, and Richard Stebbins. Winning silver and bronze were Poland and France, both of which ran 39.3 (39.36).
After the final, France’s Jocelyn Delecour approached Drayton and said, “All you have is Hayes,” to which Drayton grinned and responded, “That’s all we need”.
This was Hayes’s last race before embarking on a Hall of Fame career in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys.
Running with a lineup of Ollan Cassell (46.0), the future head of TAC, Mike Larrabee (44.8), the gold medalist in the 400, Ulis Williams (45.4), and Henry Carr (44.5), the gold medalist in the 200, the U.S. won the Men’s 4×400 relay in the world-record time of 3:00.7. Great Britain (3:01.6) and Trinidad & Tobago (3:01.7) were also under the previous mark of 3:02.2, which was set by the U.S. at the 1960 Olympics.
Carr had a 5-meter lead when he received the baton from Williams, but was caught by T&T’s Wendell Mottley and Jamaica’s George Kerr after going out conservatively in the first 200 meters. Sneaking a peek over his shoulder at his would-be challengers, as if to say, “nice try, guys”, Carr took off and brought the U.S. home with a comfortable 1-second victory.
John Thomas almost atoned for his disappointing performance at the 1960 Olympics, where he won the bronze medal in the Men’s High Jump after entering the Games as the favorite. He cleared the same height (7-1 ¾ [2.18]) as World Record holder Valery Brumel, but lost the gold medal with more misses. Winning the bronze was American John Rambo (7-1 [2.16]).
Poland (43.6), with 18-year-old Irena Kirszenstein (Szewińska), a future IAAF Hall-of-Fame runner, running the 2nd leg, beat the U.S. (43.9) in the Women’s 4×100. When it was later revealed that anchor Ewa Klobukowska had failed a new sex-chromosome test, Poland remained the Olympic champion. Still, the American quartet of Willye White, Wyomia Tyus, Marilyn White, and Edith McGuire was given credit for the World Record. The bronze medals were won by Great Britain (44.0).
Footnote: I became a Cowboys fan after Hayes joined the team. I was at Yankee Stadium in 1966 when he caught a 41-yard touchdown pass, outrunning the defender, Henry Carr, who was the cornerback for the NY Giants! (See Photo)
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1964_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: http://www.olympedia.org/editions/16/sports/ATH
Snell Feature (800/1500): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK0woLEtQQA
Video(Men’s 4×100, Marathon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPDfT0ucUfc
Extended Version (Marathon): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxOdp8ka25U
Kirszenstein-Szewinska: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/hall-of-fame-profile-irena-szewinska-poland
Klobukowska: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewa_Kłobukowska
Larrabee Hall of Fame Video(includes 400, 4×400): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp37qrwvPl4
Other Links(Bikila):
http://www.ethiopians.com/abebe_bikila.htm;
IAAF Hall of Fame: http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/hall-of-fame
Hayes-Carr (photo can be seen in the attached file if it doesn’t appear here)
1965—Bill McClellon began his senior year at NYC’s DeWitt Clinton by setting his 5th National H.S. Indoor Record by clearing 6-11 (2.11) at a meet in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Marc Bloom traces the life and career of McClellon, the first prep to clear 7-feet, in this two-part series:
Part 1: https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=645265
Part 2: https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=645294
1979—Bill Rodgers (2:11:42) was a winner of the NY City Marathon for the 4th year in a row, while Norway’s Grete Waitz ran 2:27:32.6 to better her own year-old “World Record” of 2:32:29.8 while winning the 2nd of her eight Women’s titles in NY.
Other notable finishers
Men: 2.Kirk Pfeffer (USA) 2:13:09…4.Ian Thompson (GBR) 2:13:43, 5.Benji Durden (USA) 2:13:49…7.Frank Shorter (USA) 2:16:59, 8.Ron Tabb (USA) 2:16:28, 9.Jon Anderson (USA) 2:16:38…18.Gary Fanelli (USA) 2:18:20…43.Barry Brown (USA) 2:23:00…46.Ron Hill (41-GBR) 2:43:20.
Women: 2. Gillian Adams (GBR) 2:38:33, 3.Jacqueline Gareau (CAN) 2:39:06, 4. Patty Lyons (USA) 2:40:19…9.Doreen Ennis (USA) 2:48:09.
Starters/Finishers: 11,532/10,488; Men: 9,732/9,279 , Women: 1,800/1,209
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_New_York_City_Marathon
Results(Men): https://www.athlinks.com/Events/248522/Courses/0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
http://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/
http://www.runningpast.com/rodgers.htm
Rodgers on NY:
T&F News Interview-Rodgers(1978): https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Bill-Rodgers.pdf
1984-Welshman Steve Jones set a World Record of 2:08:05 in the rain in the Chicago Marathon (known at the time as “America’s Marathon”). Finishing 2nd and 3rd were Portugal’s Carlos Lopes (2:09:06), the winner of the Olympic title earlier in the year, and Australia’s Rob de Castella (2:09:09), the 1983 World Champion. 5th was Great Britain’s Geoff Smith (2:10:08) and 14th was Paul Cummings (2:15:29).
Jones would run faster when he won the race in 1985 in 2:07:13, but he just missed the new World Record of 2:07:12, which Lopes had set in April of that year in Rotterdam.
The repeat winner of the Women’s division was Portugal’s Rosa Mota (2:26:01), the bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics (and would later win gold at the 1988 Olympics). Next were Australia’s Lisa Ondieki (2:27:40) and Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen (2:30:21). 5th was American Lisa Rainsberger (2:31:31) and 8th was Canada’s Jacqueline Gareau (2:35:33).
Since the live CBS coverage of the race wasn’t shown in the Boston area, Reebok USA brought Jones (who ran for Reebok) in from Wales for a viewing party at the city’s famed Eliot Lounge (the Coogan’s of its day!) the day after Thanksgiving. The Back Bay establishment was packed with members of the local running community, who started watching the race replay on a big screen.
The locals’ attention was soon diverted to a smaller screen that was carrying the college football game between Boston College and Miami. And with good cause—this was the game where BC quarterback Doug Flutie threw his famous “Hail Mary” pass that gave the Eagles a last-second win! Toni Reavis, who was the analyst on the CBS show, offers more at the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hen0HM49Buc
Post-Race Interview(Jones): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6_A50pu0_Y
Top-20: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Chicago_Marathon
http://www.runnersworld.com/chicago-marathon/30-years-ago-steve-jones-transformed-the-marathon
Past Winners: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_Chicago_Marathon
https://tonireavis.com/2015/11/27/such-are-the-memories-of-sport/
Born On This Day*
Kenneth Rooks 26 (1999) 2024 Olympic silver medalist–Steeplechase
Provided one of the most surprising moments in Paris when he moved into first place with 300 meters to go
and quickly built a 5-meter gap on the field. He held the lead until defending champion Soufiane El Bakkali of
Morocco went by him as they entered the final homestretch and proceeded to win his 2nd Olympic gold medal.
Rooks gamely fought off Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot to win the silver medal.
Surprisingly failed to advance out of the qualifying round at the 2025 World Championships
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Velve1mC1AE
2023 NCAA Champion—(BYU/6th-2022, 11th-2019)
3-time U.S. Champion (2023/despite falling late in the race, 2024/O.T., 2025
Finalist at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest (10th)
Still trains under Ed Eyestone, who coached him at BYU
Spent his 2-year Mormon mission in Kampala, Uganda.
PBs: 3:37.66 (2025), 3:59.65i (2023), 7:42.37i (2024), 8:06.41sc (2024), 13:26.65 (2025) 2025 SB: 8:14.25
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Rooks
BYU Podcast Post-Paris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MfrhlLXaDY
2024 OG (last three laps/Interview-NBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_e-MZ1DAmU
Full Race (free signup required)
2023 NCAA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwn0_jgv3wM
2023 U.S. Championships: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT1ody_cpCA
2024 Trials: https://www.nbcolympics.com/videos/trials-kenneth-rooks-wins-thrilling-steeplechase-final
Inspired by the Book of Mormon
Eyestone Cheering on Rooks in Paris: https://www.tiktok.com/@nbcsports/video/7401103751991414046
Anderson Peters-Grenada 28 (1997)—2-time World Champion—Javelin (2019, 2022)…silver medalist at the 2025 Worlds
2024 Olympic bronze medalist; Competed in the qualifying round at the Tokyo Olympics
2024 Diamond League Champion
2-time NCAA Champion-2018, 2019 (Mississippi State)…2nd in 2019 was teammate Curtis Thompson, who won
the bronze medal at the 2025 World Championships
2019 Pan-American Games Champion
Bronze medalist-2016 World Junior Championships
PB: 305-4 (93.07/2022/#5 All-Time); 2025 SB: 293-8 (89.53)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anderson_Peters
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/grenada/anderson-peters-14520432
https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/anderson-peters-possibility-grenada-tokyo-javelin
’19 WC: Winning Throw Extended Coverage
’22 WC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS3MF6mCmBw
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/143532
Yulimar Rojas—Venezuela 30 (1995) Won 8 straight global titles in the Triple Jump from 2016-2023
2016-World Indoors
2017-World Championships
2018-World Indoors
2019-World Championships
2021-Olympics
2022-World Indoors
2022-World Championships
2023-World Championships
Injury kept her out of the 2024 Olympics. Won the bronze medal at the 2025 World Championships.
2019 Pan-American Games Champion
Set the current World Record of 51-7 ¾ (15.74) indoors in 2022
2025 SB: 48-5 ¼ (14.76)
Keira D’Amato, 40 (1984), set a short-lived American Record of 2:19:12 for the Marathon in Houston in January 2022.
(Emily Sisson bettered the record when she ran 2:18:29 in Chicago in October 2022)
A late addition to the U.S. team, she finished 8th in the marathon at the 2022 World Championships…A 38-year-old (at
the time) mother of two, the “Running Realtor” (she’s a real-estate agent), D’Amato was 6th at the NCAA
X-Country Championships (under her maiden name of Carlstrom) while at American University, where she was
coached by none other than Matt Centrowitz. A foot injury that required surgery in 2006 ultimately brought an
“early end” (or so it was thought!) to her career in 2008.
She resumed running after giving birth to her two sons and competed in local road races in Virginia. Under the guidance of
Scott Raczko, Alan Webb’s H.S. coach, she ran 2:47:00 in the Richmond Marathon in late 2017, and her running
“rebirth” continued from there. “I feel like I found a quarter on the ground,” D’Amato says. “I get to play again.
This isn’t supposed to happen, right? It’s my bonus life… I’m truly doing this for myself to get back at everything I
didn’t accomplish the first time around.”
She was unable to finish the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials race. Also dropped out of the 2024 Chicago.
Marathon
PBs: 2:08.73 (2008), 4:38.74i (2007), 31:05.31 (2024), 1:07:55 (2021), 2:19:12 (2022)
https://www.podiumrunner.com/training/inside-lane-keira-damato/
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2022/01/16/keira-damato-marathon-american-record-houston/
Natalie Dye 43 (1981) 2003 Eastern Collegiate (ECAC) Indoor and Outdoor Champion—Pole Vault (Maryland)
PB:12-9 1/2 (3.90/2003)
Served as the inspiration (along with brother Derek, a high jumper) for the creation of DyeStat, one of the
greatest additions to the T&F scene in the internet era (or any other era!).
From my This Day in T&F Report for April 23, 1997:
“The exact date is a little fuzzy, but it was this time of year that a new website, DyeStat.com, made its first appearance on the Internet. Started by John Dye, an interested parent who wanted to see how his kids, Derek (high jump) and Natalie (pole vault), compared to other high school competitors, DyeStat.com became THE source for high school information and, with the help of his wife Donna (“On The Side”), helped create an incredible cyber-community among the nation’s preps. From John Dye: “The origin of what we were doing was Derek’s sophomore year (1996) when I sold a weekly newsletter with rankings in five Western Maryland counties. (DyeStat began) in 1997, which was when Derek and Natalie each won their events in the Maryland state meet (only brother-sister combo ever to do that in Maryland in individual events in the same state meet). That made me want to know how they compared nationally. I got all the state meet results and ranked girls’ pole vault and boys’ high jump. I found that Derek (6-8) was in the 80s nationally and Natalie (9-0) in the 40s (remember, that was when girls’ pole vault was just getting sanctioned). Hence, I started doing national rankings 100 deep to make sure they were listed(-:.”
John, who passed away in September 2022, was a member of the inaugural H.S. T&F Hall of Fame group that was inducted in 2018.
The Dye Family at Coogan’s in 2018—Natalie, Derek, John, Donna
(You can view the photo in the attached file if it doesn’t appear here.)
Carl Myerscough—Great Britain 45 (1979)
4-time NCAA Champion—Shot Put (Nebraska/Indoors-’02,’03; Outdoors-’03,’04;
2nd-discus/2002; PB:71-11 (21.92/2003)
10th at the 2005 and 2009 World Championships
Standing 6’-10” (2.085), he is likely the tallest world-class shot-putter in history.
Served a 2-year ban after testing positive for a banned substance in 1999. He was also hit with a lifetime ban by
the British Olympic Association, keeping him out of the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Games. Ban was overturned
in time for him to compete at the 2012 Olympics in London, but he didn’t make it out of the qualifying.
Round.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Myerscough
http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/19107547
Mark Elliott, Jamaica 58 (1966) Director of T&F/XC at Clemson. Was an assistant coach at LSU for 20 years. Among the
The Athletes he coached there were 800 stars, Natoya Goule, LaTavia Thomas, and Charlene Lipsey.
Was an All-American at LSU: NCAA-1989 (3000i-2nd, 5000-6th), 1990 (5000i-4th, 10,000-6th)
PBs: 7:55.78 (1989), 13:33.10 (1989), 28:32.44 (1989). Both were Jamaican Records at the time
http://clemsontigers.com/coaches/mark-elliott/
Mike Tully 68 (1956) 1984 Olympic silver medalist—Pole Vault
1978 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion(UCLA)
3-time U.S. Champion (1977,1979,1986)
Set three American Records in 1984: 18-11 (5.77), 19-3/4 (5.81), 19-1 (5.82)
Set two World Indoor Records in 1978: 18-4 (5.59), 18-5 ¼ (5.62)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79142
World Indoor Record Progression:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_pole_vault_indoor_world_record_progression
T&F News Interview-for subscribers?(1985):
https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mike-Tully.pdf
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Tully
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-07-sp-34012-story.html
Deceased
Lesley Ashburner 67 (1883-Nov.12, 1950) 1904 Olympic Bronze medalist—110-Meter Hurdles
https://cornellbigred.com/honors/hall-of-fame/lesley-ashburner/323
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78049
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesley_Ashburner
Other events in history(http://www.historyorb.com/day/october/21)
1097 – 1st Crusaders arrive in Antioch (First Crusade)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Antioch
1805 – Battle of Trafalgar, British Admiral Nelson defeats the French & Spanish fleet but is shot and killed
http://www.britishbattles.com/waterloo/battle-trafalgar.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-trafalgar
1858 – In Paris, the Can-Can is 1st performed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can-can
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjwFm6h2fiM
This Day in Music(British Site): http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/
In 1965, wanting to improve on a previous recording session, The Beatles started from scratch on a new
song called ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’, finishing recordings in three takes. They also
begin working on another new John Lennon song, ‘Nowhere Man.’
In 1997, Elton John’s ‘Candle In The Wind 1997 (“Tribute to Princess Diane”) was declared by the Guinness
Book Of Records as the biggest-selling single record of all time, with 31.8 million sales in less than
40 days and raising more than £20 million for charity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0PKcKbjlKg
In 2013, Sid Bernstein, the concert promoter who staged early US shows by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones
Stones died aged 95. Bernstein booked The Beatles for their legendary show at Shea Stadium in
The concert in New York in 1965 was the first to be staged in a stadium. Bernstein also promoted
The Fab Four’s gigs at Carnegie Hall in New York were part of their first US tour in 1964. He also arranged
The Rolling Stones’ first five US gigs and shows for Judy Garland, Ray Charles, and Tony Bennett.
NY Times Obituary: http://tinyurl.com/SidBernsteinObit
Music History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_number-one_singles
This Day in Sports: http://www.todayinsport.com/day/october/21
This Day in Baseball: www.nationalpastime.com
1998 – The New York Yankees closed out their historic season with a 3-0 victory at San Diego, sweeping the
The Padres in four games to win their record 24th World Series championship. The Game 4 victory gave the
Yankees 125 wins against 50 losses – for a .714 winning percentage, the best in the majors since their
Murderers’ Row club of 1927. Their AL-record 114 regular-season victories were the most ever for a
champion.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1998_WS.shtml
Video Highlights(57 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh14p9xw138
2015 – The Mets’ Daniel Murphy sets a major league record by hitting a home run in a 6th consecutive playoff game as his team completes a 4-game sweep against the Cubs with an 8-3 win to win the National League pennant and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2000.
