This Day in Track & Field History, September 6, Charley Paddocks runs 9.6 (1924), Herb Elliott wins Rome 1,500m (1960),

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).  3^rd was South Africa’s Malcolm Spence (45.5/45.60)

Davis, 7^th 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 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 lives in New Jersey, 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 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 incredible 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 performed better 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 3^rd.

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 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

Olympia 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 central portion of the meet wouldn’t start for another three days. Still, 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 vast 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 10^th (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 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 3^rd World Cup (Sep.4-6) ended 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, 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 1^st attempt, while the other two cleared on their 3rd and tied for 2^nd place. Finishing 4^th 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. He said that Valery(aka/Valeriy) Brumel, Dwight’s idol, whom he had met for the 1^st 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 (13:32.74). There were several 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. Still, it was now her turn to come from behind, throwing 240-0 (73.16) in the 4^th 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 5^th round. Finishing 3^rd 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. 2^nd and 3^rd 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). 3^rd 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 titles 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 tremendous 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. 3^rd 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 3^rd were Great Britain (2:58.86) and Cuba (2:59.16).

Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_World_Championships_in_Athletics

IAAF Coverage

Athletics Weekly: https://www.athleticsweekly.com/london-2017/iaaf-world-championships-history-rome-1987-62714/

NY Times(Bile-1988)

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–many fans 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. Still, 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 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 World Record in the Javelin (323-1 [98.48]) when he reached out to 320-9 (97.76) in Chorzów, Poland. Vetter also threw 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