by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy is one of the finest track statisticians that I know. Walt does #ThisDayinTrack&FieldHistory, an excellent daily service that provides true geek stories about our sport. You can check out the service for FREE with a free one-month trial subscription! (email: WaltMurphy44@gmail.com ) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.
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Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)
This Day in Track & Field–August 15
1887—Penn’s Billy Page set the last of his eight American Records in the High Jump, clearing 6-3 1/4 (1.91) in Stourbridge, England. The mark was also a World Record. Page, who had earlier won his 3rd IC4A and U.S. titles, was the first American to clear 6-feet (6-1/4 [1885]).
1920–Finland’s love affair with the javelin grew exponentially at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, where they swept the first four places in the men’s event. (This was before the 3-per-nation limit was imposed). World Record holder Jonni Myyrä won the gold medal (215-9 [65.78]) despite being struck in his non-throwing shoulder by a javelin during the warmup for the qualifying round! Finishing 2-3-4 were Urho Peltonen (208-4 [63.50]), Pekka Johansson (207-0 [63.09]), and Juho Saaristo (204-9 [62.40]).
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/67712
https://www.olympedia.org/results/57225
Finnish History:(excellent!)
http://www.speerschule.ch/docs/doc_finnthrowers-madeorborn.pdf
Photos: http://tinyurl.com/JonniMyyra
1928—Two weeks after winning Olympic gold in Amsterdam, Sweden’s Erik Lundqvist set a World Record of 232-11 (71.01) in the Javelin in Stockholm.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_javelin_world_record_progression
1936—U.S. teams set two World Relay records in front of 90,000 fans (with thousands more turned away) at the USA vs British Empire dual-meet at White City Stadium in London.
2-mile relay-7:35.8: Chuck Hornbostel, Roben Young, Harry Williamson, John Woodruff (1:52.2)
4-mile relay-17:17.2: Chuck Hornbostel, Gene Venzke, Archie San Romani, Glenn Cunningham (4:12)
3 members of the U.S. team that won the 4×100-meter relay at the just-completed Berlin Olympics ran on the winning 4x100y (yes-4x100y!): Frank Wykoff, Marty Glickman (replacing Foy Draper), Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe.
A mixed British Empire team of 3 Brits (all of whom ran on the winning 4×400 in Berlin) and 1 Canadian won the mile relay in 3:10.6, well under USC’s World Record of 3:11.8, but the IAAF only ratified relay marks if all 4 runners were from the same country.
This was the most exciting race of the meet. Godfrey Brown (47.0), the silver medalist in the Olympic 400, caught Jimmy Lu Valle, the bronze medalist in the 400, right at the finish to give the BE the narrow win. The U.S. team, which ran an estimated 3:11.0, included Olympic champions Archie William (400) and Glenn “Slats” Hardin (400h).
The U.S. dominated this relay-only meet (including field events), winning 11 of the 14 events.
1950–In one of the great 400s of all time, George Rhoden edged fellow Jamaican Herb McKenley, the World Record holder (45.9), in Stockholm (46.0-46.1). Rhoden would break McKenley’s mark a week later (Aug.22) when he ran 45.8 in Eskilstuna, Sweden. http://tinyurl.com/RhodenMcKenley
1964–Ralph Boston long-jumped 27-3 ¼ (8.31) in Kingston, Jamaica, to equal Igor Ter-Ovanesyan’s World Record.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_jump_world_record_progression
1979—Running by himself the 2nd half of the race in Zürich’s Letzigrund Stadium, Great Britain’s Sebastian Coe ran 3:32.03 (ratified as 3:32.1) for 1500-meters to break Filbert Bayi’s 5-1/2-year-old World Record of 3:32.2. It was the 3rd World Record of the season for Coe, who earlier set new standards in the 800 (1:42.33) and the mile (3:49.0).
Some notables finishing far behind Coe included Craig Masback (2nd-3:36.97), Ray Flynn (6th-3:38.61), Wilson Waigwa (7th-3:41.15), Mike Boit (8th-3:45.38), and Mark Belger (10th-3:55.39).
Evelyn Ashford won the 100 in 11.00 and the 200 in the American Record time of 22.27.
Renaldo Nehemiah suffered a rare loss in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing 2nd to Dedy Cooper (13.53-13.54) after hitting some early hurdles.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
Hall of Fame Bio(Ashford): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/evelyn-ashford
1982—Germany’s Jürgen Hingsen set the first of his three World Records in the Decathlon, scoring 8,723 points (8,741-current tables) in Ulm, breaking Daley Thompson’s 3-month old mark of 8,704 (8,730)
Hingsen’s marks:
10.74, 7.85 (25-9 ¼), 16.00 (52-6), 2.15 (7-1/2), 47.65, 14.64, 44.92 (147-4), 4.60 (15-1), 63.10 (207-0), 4:15.13
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decathlon_world_record_progression.
1993—33-year-old Linford Christie backed up his Olympic victory in Barcelona the previous year by winning the 100-meters at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, over the U.S. trio of Andre Cason (9.92), Dennis Mitchell (9.99), and Carl Lewis (10.02). Christie’s winning time of 9.87 was a British Record and only .01s off Lewis’s World Record of 9.86, set In 1991.
For the 32-year-old Lewis, who hadn’t qualified for the 1992 U.S. team in the 100, it was his first loss in the sprint at a global championship, having won gold at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and the first three World Championships (1983-1987-1991).
10 years after winning the Women’s Long Jump at the inaugural World Championships in 1983, Germany’s Heike Drechsler won her 2nd title with a jump of 23-4 (7.11/twice!). She had won the gold medal at last year’s Olympics in Barcelona. Finishing 2nd & 3rd here were Ukraine’s Larisa Berezhnaya (22-10 ¾ [6.98]) and Denmark’s Renata Nielsen (22-2 ¼ [6.76]).
Tajikistan’s Andrey Abduvaliyev, the 1992 Olympic Champion, won the Men’s Hammer with a throw of 267-10 (81.64). He would win a 2nd title in 1995. 2nd & 3rd were Belarus’s Igor Astapkovich (261-1 [79.88]) and Hungary’s Tibor Gécsek (260-11 [79.54]).
Medalist in other events
Women’s Marathon: Japan’s Junko Asari (2:30:03), Portugal’s Maria Machado (2:30:54), Japan’s Tomoe Abe (2:31:01)
Men’s 20k Walk: Spain’s Valentin Massana (1:22:31), Italy’s Giovanni DeBenedictis (1:23:08), Spain’s Daniel Plaza
(1:23:18)
Women’s Shot Put: Huang Zhihong (67-6 [20.57]), Russia’s Svetlana Krivelyova (65-6 ¼ [19.97]), Germany’s Kathrin
Neimke (64-8 [19.71])
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Championships_in_Athletics
Video(100): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cia6q9we_g0
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/16/sports/16iht-dash.html
2008–Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba, known affectionately as “The Baby-faced Destroyer,” who would later win the 5000, got the first leg of her distance double at the Beijing Olympics by taking the Women’s 10,000-meters in 29:54.66, an Olympic Record and the 2nd fastest (at the time) performance in history. Turkey’s Elvan Abeylegesse was a close 2nd in 29:56.34 (see below).
Meanwhile, Shalane Flanagan, who had battled food poisoning at the U.S. training camp shortly before arriving in Beijing, kept picking off runners who succumbed to the fast, early pace.
Flanagan moved into 3rd place with two laps to go, far behind the two leaders, but now in solid medal contention. Since runners were being lapped, Flanagan wasn’t sure where she placed when she crossed the finish line, holding up three fingers in a questioning pose before realizing that she had indeed won the bronze medal. As a bonus, her time of 30:22.22 broke her own American Record of 30:34.49, which she had set earlier in the year. Flanagan’s medal was upgraded to silver after Abeylegesse was retroactively disqualified for a doping violation. Kenya’s Linet Masai (30:26.50) moved up to 3rd.
Watching from the stands was her excited mom, Cheryl Treworgy, a pioneer in women’s distance running and a noted photographer in the T&F/running community. Fighting her way through local fans congratulating her for her daughter’s achievement, Treworgy went down to the edge of the track to embrace Shalane in the middle of her victory lap.
Flanagan’s DNA runs deep. Not only was her mother a former world record holder in the marathon, but her dad, Steve Flanagan, was part of the early running scene in Boulder, Colorado. He was also a partner with Frank Shorter when Frank opened his running stores and was inducted into the Colorado Running Hall of Fame.
Poland’s Tomasz Majewski, who stood 6’-8 ¼” (2.04) and weighed 309 pounds (140kg), won the first of his two Olympic titles in the Men’s Shot Put with a toss of (70-7 [21.51]). American Christian Cantwell threw 69-2 ½ (21.09) in the final round to snatch the silver medal from Canada’s Dylan Armstrong (69-1/2 [21.04]). (Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus was initially awarded the bronze medal, but he was later disqualified for a doping violation)
Medalists/Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics
Mom Looks Back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c8VnPCnjNw
SI Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/2008/08/25/national-agony
Medal Upgrade: https://www.itemlive.com/2017/04/01/abeylegesses-positive-test-gives-flanagan-2008-silver/
Steve Flanagan:
https://corunninghalloffame.com/tag/steve-flanagan/
2009—Taking the lead from Poland’s Tomasz Majewski (71-10 ¾ [21.91]) with his 5th-round toss of 72-3 ½ (22.03), Christian Cantwell won the Men’s Shot Put on the first day of competition at the World Championships in Berlin. Cantwell had already won two World Indoor titles in 2004 and 2008 and would add a 3rd in 2010. On this date in 2008, Majewski had beaten Cantwell for the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
There was some talk of a U.S. sweep heading into the Championships, but past World titlists Reese Hoffa (2007) and Adam Nelson (2005) finished 4th (69-9 ¾ [21.28]} and 5th (69-3 ¾ [21.11]).
Medalists in other events:
Women’s 10,000—Kenya’s Linet Masai (30:51.24), Ethiopia’s Meselech Melkamu (30:51.34) and Wude Ayalew (30:51.95)
Men’s 20k Walk—China’s Wang Hau (1:19:06), Mexico’s Eder Sánchez (1:19:22), Italy’s Giorgio Rubino (1:19:50)
Medalists/Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_World_Championships_in_Athletics
2013—Fans were treated to some tremendous high jump competitions in 2014, and they got an early taste of things to come at the World Championships in Moscow.
Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim took the lead with a first-attempt clearance at 7-9 ¾ (2.38), a height that Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko had passed. Also over at 7-9 ¾ (a personal best) on his 2nd jump was Canada’s Derek Drouin, the former Indiana Hoosier who had won his 5th NCAA title in June.
Barshim and Bondarenko each missed their first attempts at 7-10 ¾ (2.41). Bondarenko cleared on his 2nd try (only his 4th jump of the competition) to match his PB (and setting a Championship Record), forcing Barshim to attempt to clear 8-0 (!2.44), but he missed on his two remaining efforts. (Drouin missed all 3 of his tries at 7-10 3/4).
With the World title in hand, Bondarenko missed 3 times at the World Record height of 8-3/4 (2.46).
Jenny Simpson surprised even herself by winning the Women’s 1500 meters at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. Still, she had a disappointing Olympic experience in London 2012, finishing last in her semi-final race.
She bounced back nicely in Moscow, winning the silver medal behind Ethiopia-born Swede Abeba Aregawi (4:02.67-4:02.99). 3rd was Kenya’s Hellen Obiri (4:03.80)
17-year-old Mary Cain, the youngest 1500 finalist ever in Olympic or World Championship history, finished a disappointing (to her) 10th in 4:07.19.
Ezekiel Kemboi (8:06.01) beat teammate Conseslus Kipruto (8:06.37) to win the Men’s Steeplechase, making It the 12th Worlds in a row that an athlete from Kenya won the event. (Kenyan-born Saif Saeed Shaheen represented Qatar when he won the 2003 and 2005 titles). 3rd was France’s Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (8:07.86).
Much to the delight of the fans, Kemboi, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion, performed his usual post-victory dance.
Michael Tinsley (47.70), 2nd in the Men’s 400-meter hurdles at the London Olympics, had to settle for another silver medal as he was outlined at the finish by Trinidad & Tobago’s Jehue Gordon (47.69) as both runners tumbled to the track. Serbia’s Emir Bekrić (48.05) won the bronze medal. Finishing 8th out of lane 1 was Kerron Clement (49.08), the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and 2-time World Champion (2007,2009). He would win a 2nd Olympic gold in 2016.
The Czech Republic’s Zuzana Hejnová (52.83) won the Women’s 400-meter hurdles over the American duo of Dalilah Muhammad (54.09), a future Olympic (2016) and World (2019) Champion, and Lashinda Demus (54.27), who would later be crowned the 2012 Olympic Champion.
Medalists/Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_World_Championships_in_Athletics
IAAF Coverage:
Videos: HJ M400h W400h MSC W1500
