by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy is one of the finest track geeks 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.
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–September 16
1920–Jackson Scholz ran 10.6 in Stockholm to equal the World Record for 100 meters. Scholz, a National Hall of Fame member, had won Olympic gold in the 4×100 earlier in the year and went on to win gold in the 200 and silver in the 100 at the 1924 Olympics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Scholz
1956-Hungary’s Sándor Rozsnyói ran 8:35.6 in Budapest to regain the World Record in the Steeplechase. His first record of 8:49.8 was set in 1954, and four different runners would lower the standard six times over the next two years. Rozsnyói, who regularly smoked 5-6 cigarettes a day, would go on to win the silver medal two months later at the Melbourne Olympics.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3000_metres_steeplechase_world_record_progression
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/71270
Obituary: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/iaaf-news/sandor-rozsnyoi-obituary
1956—Betty Cuthbert set a World Record of 23.2 for 200 meters at a pre-Olympic meet in Sydney. She would attain legend status in December by winning 3 gold medals (100,200,4×100) at the Melbourne Olympics. Australia’s “Golden Girl” would win a 4th gold medal 8 years later by winning the 400 meters at the Tokyo Olympics.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_200_metres_world_record_progression
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Cuthbert
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/64506
1968—It was a day of high drama as the Men’s U.S. Olympic Trials ended at Echo Summit, the unique facility high above South Lake Tahoe. There were only two events on the schedule, which had been created to emulate the one that would be in place at the Mexico City Olympics, and each epitomized the highs and lows often associated with the Trials. The site itself had been chosen to match the altitude of Mexico City.
Jim Ryun, who had battled mono during the summer, had qualified for the 800 final earlier in the week but gave up the chase early in the race and struggled home in 7th place in 2:02.6. After resting for two days, Ryun was faced with running three rounds of the 1500 on consecutive days in the 7,300′ altitude! Ryun comfortably made it through his heat and semi-final without having to expend too much effort.
He set the early pace in the final, moving through cautious splits of 67.8 and 2:13.6. The tempo increased dramatically on the 3rd lap, with Ryun slipping back to last place in the 8-man field. Any concern that the World Record holder in the 1500 and Mile might be shut out of the Olympics quickly disappeared as he looked like the Ryun of old as he sprinted back into the lead and won in 3:49.0 (with a last 400 of 50.8!). A surprising 2nd was 19-year-old Marty Liquori (3:49.5), who was just three months removed from his freshman year at Villanova, and 3rd was Tom Von Ruden (3:49.8).
Finishing a distant 4th was a disheartened Dave Patrick (3:52.0), Liquori’s former teammate at Villanova, who raised his arms in frustration in the homestretch as he saw his Olympic dream end.
Patrick, the 1968 NCAA Champion, had won the “semi”-Trials in Los Angeles at the end of June and had been led to believe that he had secured a place on the U.S. Olympic team as long as he showed fitness at Echo Summit. Villanova coach Jumbo Elliott then adjusted Patrick’s training to ensure he would be in peak form in Mexico City. It wasn’t until they arrived in Lake Tahoe that they discovered that things had changed–the L.A. win meant nothing, and the first three finishers in each event at these final Trials would be selected for the U.S. team! (More below)
The other final was the High Jump, with four men fighting for three Olympic berths. The setup at Echo Summit was such that fans surrounded the high jump apron and got a close-up view of an exciting and historic competition.
John Hartfield was in the lead after clearing a personal best of 7-2 (2.185) on his first attempt and seemed assured of a ticket to Mexico City. Things got interesting after 1964 Olympian Ed Caruthers and 17-year-old Reynaldo Brown, who still had a year left at Compton (CA) H.S., cleared a personal best of 7-3 (2.21) on their first attempts. Hartfield missed his first attempt and was now in 3rd place but still “on the team.” But then Dick Fosbury, the 1968 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor champion from Oregon State, who was using his ground-breaking backward style of jumping, much to the delight of the crowd, also cleared 7-3, pushing Hartfield down to 4th. (Brown’s 7-3 would remain the High School Record until 1977, when Gail Olson raised the mark to 7-4).
Hartfield was anxious to make his 2nd attempt at 7-3. Still, before he could start his approach, an official with ties to Oregon State yelled out, “That’s a school record,” and asked for the bar to be remeasured so Fosbury could get official recognition! Hartfield was obviously upset by this interruption and missed again (to be fair, Hartfield, who had already PR’d at 7-2, would have had to clear an American Record of 7-4 to make the team at this point). After missing his 3rd attempt, leaving the other 3 as U.S. Olympians, he dejectedly walked off into the trees surrounding the track.
Fosbury and Caruthers won the gold and silver medals, respectively, in Mexico City, while Ryun won silver in the 1500.
Echo Summit was designated as a California Historical Landmark. Read Bob Burns’ wonderful article about the site and how it came to be:
http://www.pausatf.org/data/2013/tfechosummit.html
http://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1965
In his book:
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
Results(includes “Semi” Trials):
https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1968.pdf
History of the Trials: https://trackandfieldnews.com/usa-olympic-trials-history/
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1968/09/23/triumph-and-tragedy-at-tahoe
The Dave Patrick Saga
For many years, friends and former teammates (as well as Villanova coach Marcus O’Sullivan) had been pushing to get Dave Patrick official recognition as a U.S. Olympian. Things came together at the 2008 Penn Relays when Patrick was surprised at a Villanova reception he thought was being held to honor the 1968 Wildcat team. Here’s how he remembers that night:
“I had been working for weeks on a multi-media presentation at Penn to honor the Villanova team (Larry James — Honorary Carnival Referee), Frank Murphy, Wall of Fame at Penn) and the entire team. I had a couple of videos in the presentation, including the mile relay that Larry ran 43.9y, and with that, Villanova won their record 5th Championship of America. I had been working for weeks to get everyone there from all over the country ( four guys came from Ireland, Des McCormack, Frank Murphy, Ian Hamilton, and Eamonn Coghlan).
After making some remarks before and after the presentation, I was followed by Marcus O’Sullivan, who stated that he got a kick out of watching me plan my own reception, and I did not even know it. Then he invited Steve Simmons and Payton Jordan (who flew all the way over from the West Coast), who were joined by John Carlos, Tom Farrell, Larry James, Erv Hall, Russ Hodge, Norm Tate, Don Bragg, etc.
Steve Simmons and Payton Jordan said they were here to correct the injustice that was done 40 years ago and make me an official member of the 1968 US Olympic team. Wow, I was really caught by surprise. They presented me with the Olympic flag and apparel and gave me two tickets to the Olympic trials in Eugene”!
And here’s what Marcus O’Sullivan wrote about the night and the events that led up to it for the Villanova newsletter.
An Evening to Remember
by Marcus O’Sullivan
As the story goes, and there is enough documentation to confirm this, it had been officially established that whoever won the trials in LA would be automatically selected for the 1968 Olympics, leaving the remainder of the team to be assembled after completing the second trial in Lake Tahoe.
Such an unorthodox way to have an Olympic Trials emerged because the USOC wanted to have the trials in a spectator-filled location. LA was the obvious choice for which they could capitalize on the heightened publicity. However, it met resistance as experts stressed that the team would be strongest if selected in a location that mirrored the altitude environment of Mexico City. Consequently, Lake Tahoe, being at a high enough altitude, was the suggested choice. A compromise was made, and an agreement was publicized that the winner at sea level in LA would gain automatic selection, and the next two spots would be decided at the second trial in Lake Tahoe. Dave Patrick won the (1500-meter at the LA Trials) and, therefore, became an automatic selection to the US Olympic Team.
However, days before the second trial was to be run, the goal posts somehow managed to be moved by what looked later like a manipulation of circumstances by shrewd lobbyists. There and then, it was decided that all 3 Olympic 1500m spots would go to the top 3 placegetters in Lake Tahoe. When the dust settled, it was clear that Dave Patrick was indirectly, albeit arguably, maneuvered off the Olympic Team when he finished 4th in Lake Tahoe.
Life could never entirely be the same for Dave. Jim Murray, then Sports Information Director for Villanova, took the call from Jumbo. “Jim, I think I have just witnessed a wedding and funeral all at once,” said Mr. Elliott, referring to Marty Liquori, his nineteen-year-old freshman, making the team, and Dave Patrick being ousted from the same team. As they crossed the finish line, the best and the worst situations were revealed to Jumbo.
Some years ago, in his attempt to explain the situation, Jack Daniels, who was the altitude training coordinator (for the U.S. team), posed to me a simple question: “If you were told you had made the team in LA, what would you do then in terms of training?” My reply to Jack was simple: “I would train for the Olympics.” In other words, Tahoe was not his focus, and to have finished fourth was an excellent performance in proving fitness.
“Exactly,” exclaimed Jack, “that is what Dave Patrick did.” Only to be penalized for his good intentions.
This is how it stayed for many years until several years ago; while having a very long breakfast with Marty Liquori, he convinced me to take up the plight of trying to have Dave recognized. After hearing a number of variations of the story, it was very obvious that Dave was indeed the victim of unfortunate administrative circumstances. Once the wrong was done, it seemed too much of an ordeal to go back and change the rules again.
During the Villanova Olympic Gala in 2004, many of the Villanova alumni and the athletic department needed to be made aware of how the story went. So, during the preparations, Villanova’s athletic director, Vince Nicastro, and the organizing committee decided that the least they could do was recognize one of our own and the accomplishments he had achieved. I knew it was falling short of the real thing, but I was determined to acknowledge a wrong done to Dave Patrick and let him know how we truly felt about him.
And then, four years later, the seemingly impossible happened. Larry James and Steve Simmons, who were the U.S. team leaders for the 1992 Olympic Games, through a collaboration of sorts, managed to do the unthinkable – to finally have Dave Patrick recognized as the Olympian he always was in the eyes of many. It was to be a surprise, so Steve called me and asked if there would be an appropriate time to do the ceremony with some of his classmates present. I immediately thought of the Penn Relays and the 1968 reunion Dave Patrick organized. I suggested to Dave that the Track and Field program host a cocktail hour on Friday evening of the Penn Relays, and Dave thought it would be a nice gesture.
Dave was putting together a montage show for the class of ’68 and thought it would be a great opportunity to recognize Larry James for being the Honorary Referee at the Penn Relays. Little did he know the real reason Larry, Steve, and I wanted to have this cocktail hour. The scene was set!
What an evening it turned out to be. The gathering was significant at the Sheraton, and many Villanova 1968 team members were present. The 1966 National Cross Country Championship winning team, which included Tom Donnelly, Ian Hamilton, Frank Murphy, Jack O’Leary, Charlie Messenger, and Dave, was together for the first time in many years.
An Irish contingent traveled from Ireland, including 1983 World Champion Eamonn Coghlan and his wife, Yvonne. Frank Murphy, European 1500 meter silver medalist, was also present to be inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame. They were joined by John Hartnett, who ran 3:54.7 for the mile in 1974.
Payton Jordan, the coach of the 1968 Olympic Team, nibbled on appetizers and mingled with the crowd. He never gave away the reason he was there but told Dave that he was always fond of the Villanova Boys and wanted to be a part of the gathering. Dave accepted this very plausible excuse and proceeded to start his visual collage.
The 17-minute video was terrific and shortly after was followed by a few words from Frank Murphy and Larry James. As I was coming to the podium in what appeared to wrap up the evening, I then revealed why this gathering was assembled. Steve Simmons, along with Payton Jordan, made their way to the podium to carry out the sanctioned ceremony that would finally recognize the Olympian status of Dave Patrick. It was an emotional surprise to Dave and his wife, Michelle, who was unaware of this secretly orchestrated event. In Payton’s letter, you can tell how much love and affection he still has for the Olympic Team in 1968. and articulated it well shortly after the ceremony when he wrote,
“It was a deep honor to be with the Villanova athletes and the supporters of the Villanova track and field team. It was time to recognize your great champion and Olympian, Dave Patrick. He was and always will be a member of our 1968 United States Olympic Team! ”
John Carlos, bronze medalist(200) at the Games, was on hand to say a few words and express his memories of the hurt he remembers in Dave’s eyes during the Tahoe race. He was such a great improv speaker; he captured the lows and highs of Dave’s life regarding this one event.
Seeing so many people there to support this evening was heartwarming and awe-inspiring. Everyone could reflect on the accomplishments of the Villanova 1968 team and the US Olympic team of Mexico City.
A very special thanks to Larry James and Steve Simmons, who made this evening possible and who took the time to set the record straight.
Congratulations, Dave!
