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 25
1977—The winners at the inaugural Mayor Daley Marathon in Chicago were Americans Dan Cloeter (2:17:52) and Dorothy Doolittle (2:50:47). Cloeter would win again in 1979.
(From the Looking Back link below)
Just a few miles into what was then the Mayor Daley Marathon, Dan Cloeter came to a halt. He and the other lead runners had been striding over a narrow bike path in Chicago’s Lincoln Park near Lake Michigan when they hit a traffic jam.
‘You could hardly have two people running side by side on this path,’ Cloeter recalls.
It was essentially an out-and-back route, and those at the front were suddenly running against the tide of slower runners coming from the opposite direction. It wasn’t an ideal situation for a race with 4,200 starters.
“There wasn’t a motorcycle or bicyclist, you know, yelling, ‘Be careful, the lead runners are coming!’ Cloeter says. “I remember several times along a 2- or 3-mile stretch where I came to a complete stop.”
The race, now known as the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, grew over the years to become one of the largest in the world, now drawing upwards of 50,000 entries.
Looking Back (2017): https://www.motivrunning.com/recalling-inaugural-chicago-marathon/
(The photos referenced in the above article are no longer available)
https://www.journalgazette.net/sports/rec/20171008/runner-looks-back-at-first-chicago-race
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-09-19-0209190355-story.html
A First Look: https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/10/03/how-i-won-the-marathon
Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_Chicago_Marathon
1983—Paul Cummings set a World Record of 61:32 for the ½-Marathon in Dayton, Ohio. He was the 1974 NCAA Champion in the Mile while competing for Brigham Young.
https://more.arrs.run/runner/3808
https://www.mormonwiki.com/Paul_Cummings:_Mormon_Athlete
1988—As expected, Florence Griffith-Joyner (10.54w) dominated the Women’s 100-meters at the Seoul Olympics, winning by almost .3s over U.S. teammate Evelyn Ashford (10.83w), who edged East Germany’s Heike Drechsler (10.85w) to win the silver medal.
Andre Phillips (47.19) held off Senegal’s Amadou Dia Bâ (47.23) to win the Men’s 400-meter hurdles. Finishing 3rd in his final global championship was 2-time (’76, ’84) Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses (47.56), who lost his Olympic Record to Phillips. 4th was Kevin Young (47.94), who would win this event four years later in Barcelona (with a WR of 46.78). Not making the trip to Seoul because they didn’t make the U.S. team were potential medalists David Patrick and Danny Harris, who ran 47.75 and 47.76, respectively, at the Olympic Trials.
Czech Jan Železný would become a legend of the sport by winning three straight Olympic gold medals in the Men’s Javelin in 1992-1996-2000, but the World Record holder almost started his winning streak in Seoul.
After setting an Olympic Record of 281-10 (85.90) in the qualifying round, Železný had led the field after throwing 273-10 (83.46) in the 4thround, and improved to 274-6 (84.12) on his final throw.
Tapio Korjus had looked like a medal contender after throwing 271-5 (82.74) in the first round, but had passed in the 3rd and 4th rounds to have a leg cramp tended to. Feeling better, Korjus broke Železný’s heart by reaching 276-6 (84.28) on the final throw of the competition to give Finland its 7th Olympic gold medal in the event. Another Finn, Seppo Räty (273-2 [83.26]), won the bronze medal.
The Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Tatyana Samolenko (8:26.53) passed Romania’s Paula Ivan (8:27.15) in the homestretch to win the Women’s 3000-Meters (8:26.53), with Great Britain’s (and Scotland’s) Yvonne Murray (8:29.02) winning the bronze medal. Villanova’s Vicki Huber (8:37.25), who led the race from 2000-2500 meters, wound up 6th and Mary Slaney (8:47.13), who set a fast pace through the first 1000-meters, faded to 10th (8:47.13).
In the Men’s High Jump, 4 men cleared 7-8 ¾ (2.36), a height that would have been good enough to win the gold medal at any previous Olympics, but the Soviet Union’s (and Ukraine’s) Gennadiy Avdeyenko was the only one to clear 7-9 ¾ (2.38/Olympic Record). American Hollis Conway finished 2nd and the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Rudolf Povarnitsyn and Sweden’s Patrik Sjöberg tied for 3rd. Missing from the competition because of a Cuban boycott was Javier Sotomayor, who had set a World Record of 7-11 ½ (2.43) earlier in the month.
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1988_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/22/sports/ATH
Videos: M400h W100 MHJ(Winning Jump) MJT
2000—Even noted film-maker Bud Greenspan agreed that this night in Sydney was the greatest in Olympic history.
And the greatest moment in this night to remember took place in the first running final—the Women’s 400-Meters.
Australia’s own Cathy Freeman, who had ignited the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremony, had won two World titles since winning the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics and was favored to win here.
But this wasn’t just another race. As if an Olympic final didn’t present enough pressure, Freeman would be racing in front of 110,000 partisan fans in a packed stadium as the rest of Australia watched at home or on screens set up all around the country. And, as a native Aboriginal, she had also become a symbol of Australia’s drive towards reconciliation with the country’s indigenous group.
Wearing a hooded body suit, Freeman settled into her blocks in lane 6. As Australia’s Paul Connolly wrote in the SI article linked below, “When the starter’s pistol fired at 8.10 pm on Monday, September 25, prompting a roar that would have woken the gods, Sydney’s Olympic Stadium sparkled like a disco ball as tens of thousands of flashing cameras vainly attempted to capture what everyone knew was the single most significant moment of (these Games)”.
Trailing Great Britain’s Katharine Merry and Jamaica’s Lorraine Graham coming off the final turn, Freeman fulfilled a country’s expectations by pulling away down the homestretch to win in 49.11. Graham (49.58) won the silver and Merry (49.72) the bronze. (Merry has been doing a fine job of handling post-race interviews at the Prefontaine Classic in recent years—and provides in-stadium announcing at many other events.
Freeman, seemingly overcome by the enormity of the moment (or was she?-see below!), lay on the track for several minutes as the other finalists came over to offer their congratulations. Then, carrying both the Aboriginal and Australian flags, she embarked on a joyous victory lap.
Meanwhile, the inaugural Olympic Pole Vault for women was heading towards a dramatic finish. World Record holder Stacy Dragila, feeding off the energy provided by the raucous crowd as Freeman continued her victory lap, cleared 14-9 (4.50) on her 3rd attempt just to stay in the competition (4th at this point).
Australia’s Tatiana Grigorieva, a transplant from Russia, gave the crowd another thrill as she cleared 14-11 (4.55) on her first attempt to take the lead, while Dragila moved into 2nd with her 2nd-jump clearance.
Back on the track, the Men’s 400, which had been delayed due to Freeman’s extended celebration, finally went off, with Michael Johnson (43.84) powering through the final 100 to become the first man to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the event. 2nd and 3rd were American Alvin Harrison (44.40) and Jamaica’s Greg Haughton (44.70).
As Johnson was completing his victory lap, he was congratulated by Lithuania’s Virgilijus Alekna, who was finishing up his own lap of honor after winning the first of his two Olympic titles in the Men’s Discus (227-4 [69,30]). Winning silver and bronze were Germany’s Lars Riedel (68.50 [224-9]), the defending champion, and South Africa’s Frantz Kruger (223-8 [68./19]).
Next up was the Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles. After false starts by Great Britain’s Colin Jackson, the World Record holder, and American Mark Crear, the field finally got off on the 3rd try. There had been some talk of a U.S. sweep, but someone forgot to tell Anier García, who won the gold medal comfortably with a Cuban Record of 13.00. Americans took the next three positions, with Terrence Trammell (13.16) winning silver and Crear (13.22) the bronze, as defending champion Allen Johnson (13.23), who hit all 10 hurdles, finished 4th. Jackson was next in 13.26.
With the Women’s 5000 underway on the track, the Women’s Vault was now down to its final stages. With the bar at 15-1 (4.60), Dragila cleared cleanly on her first attempt to take the lead. Grigorieva, who had become the crowd favorite after teammate Emma George, one of the pioneers in the event, had gone out in the qualifying round, missed on her first effort. She passed her final two jumps as the bar was raised to a World Record height of 15-3 (4.65) (Dragila had set the existing record of 15-2 ¼ [4.63] at the U.S. Olympic Trials).
Neither could clear that height, giving Dragila another first. In addition to becoming the first Olympic champion in the event, she also won the first World Indoor and Outdoor titles. Grigorieva won the silver medal and Iceland’s Vala Flosadóttir (14-9 [4.50]) the bronze.
With 200-meters to go in the Women’s 5000, Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan came up on the shoulder of Gabriela Szabo, but could never grab the lead as the diminutive Romanian (5-2 ¼ [1.58]) held on for a narrow win (14:40.79-14:41.02). Ethiopia’s Gete Wami (14:42.23) finished 3rd.
Competing in his 4th Olympics, Great Britain’s Jonathan Edwards took the lead in the 3rd round of the Men’s Triple Jump with a leap of 58-1 ¼ (17.71). That turned out to be the winning jump, giving him his first Olympic gold to go along with the silver he won in 1996. And it was his 1st global title since winning at the 1995 World Championships (and setting the current World Record). Winning the silver medal was Cuba’s Yoel García, who went from 4th to 2nd with his final jump of 57-4 ¾ (17.47), and the bronze medal went to Russia’s Denis Kapustin (57-3 1/2[17.46]).
Also competing in a 4th Olympics, Mozambique’s Maria Mutola (1:56.14), who had already won World Indoor and Outdoor titles, chased down Great Britain’s Kelly Holmes in the homestretch to finally win her first Olympic title in the Women’s 800-Meters. Austria’s Stephanie Graf (1:56.64) also passed Holmes (1:56.80) to win the silver medal.
It had already been a great night of track and field, but it was about to get even better.
Kenya’s Paul Tergat had finished a close 2nd to Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie in the Men’s 10,000-meters at the 1996 Olympics and the 1997 and 1999 World Championships.
Determined to end that trend, Tergat worked his way out of a box on the final backstretch and sprinted past Gebrselassie to take the lead with 200-meters to go. With both runners in a full sprint, Tergat appeared to be on his way to victory, but Geb dug deep and edged ahead in the final five meters to once again frustrate his great rival (27:18.20-27:18.29). Geb’s margin of victory (.09s) in this race for the ages was smaller than Maurice Greene’s in the 100 (.12s). Winning the bronze medal was Ethiopia’s Assefa Mezgebu (27:20.44).
It was a fitting way for this spectacular night to end and a perfect bookend to Freeman’s win in the 400.
Misunderstood: As for Freeman’s post-race reaction, she revealed in 2019 that she wasn’t overcome by emotion
when her race ended. Instead, she was disappointed she hadn’t run faster!
As she told broadcaster Mark Howard in a podcast, “I actually crossed the line, looked across at the time — 49.11
(seconds) — I was immediately disappointed because I would have loved to have run 48 (seconds).
“I just remember leaning over, putting my hands around my knees and just shaking my head.”
Howard asked: “So that head shake was disappointment at your time?”
“Yeah,” Freeman replied. “I was not happy. “It’s a mighty occasion. I don’t mean to sound like a Debbie Downer, but
that’s just who I am.”
From Mark Young, an assistant coach on the U.S. team:
“Your note on Cathy Freeman was/is right on. That moment (her winning under those pressures) and Dragila’s vault
victory and strategy were my most memorable (of so many) events at those Games (having been lucky enough to
be on staff to see them in person).
Results: https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/27th-olympic-games-6951910
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/25/sports/ATH
Documentary (2-hours/covers all events on this day, plus other sports)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xHMsL6sSLQ
Video(27 minutes): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBjuhq__XPk
http://www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3412111.htm
Freeman Tribute Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn69v8iYo24
A Look Back:
https://www.athleticsweekly.com/blog/freeman-magic-monday-greatest-night-1039932649/
https://www.who.com.au/cathy-freeman-now
Videos: M10k-Full Race/no commentary Highlight W400 M400 M110h WPV W800 MTJ(Edwards Looks Back) #2
2005—Japan’s Mizuki Nogochi set an Asian Record of 2:19:12 while winning the Berlin Marathon. She set en-route World Records at 25k (1:22:13) and 30k (1:38:49).
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/noguchi-breaks-asian-record-in-berlin-maratho
2011—Kenya’s Patrick Makau Musyoki won the Berlin Marathon in 2:03:38, breaking Haile Gebrselassie’s 3-year old World Record of 2:03:59, which was set on the same course in 2008. Musyoki also get credit for a WR for his en-route time of 1:27:38 at 30,000-Meters. (Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai had run 2:03:02 in Boston in April, but that point-to-point course is not eligible for record consideration).
From the NY Times: “Just before Mile 17, Makau swung from one side of the flat course to the other, once, twice, three times, then surged. This zigzagging tactic exposed and dropped the previous record-holder, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who had run 2:03:59 in Berlin in 2008. The race kept growing more futile for Gebrselassie, who did not finish. He stopped briefly after Makau’s swerving and then again for good just before 22 miles, experiencing a surprising and debilitating flare-up of exercise-induced asthma, his agent said”.
https://worldathletics.org/news/news/makau-stuns-with-20338-marathon-world-record
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/sports/patrick-makau-sets-world-record-in-berlin.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKZwFbj4FQ0
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progression
2022—Competing in ideal weather conditions, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge was a winner of the Berlin Marathon for the 4th time, running 2:01:09 to take a full 30 seconds off his World Record of 2:01:39, which he set while winning the 2018 edition of the race.
Aided by three pacemakers, the 2-time Olympic gold medalist (2016,2021) was actually on sub-2 hour pace after passing the half-way mark in a quick 59:51, a time good enough to win most half-marathons!
Winner of the Women’s race was Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, who ran 2:15:37, a course record and the 3rd-fastest women’s time in history! It was only her 2nd marathon, having made her debut back in March when she ran a modest 2:34:01 in Ryadh. It’s been an amazing transition for Assefa, who competed in the first round of the 800-meters at the 2016 Olympics and had a personal best of 1:59.24 (2014)! As reported yesterday, Assefa returned to Berlin in 2023 and set the current World Record of 2:11:53.
Finishing 6th with a creditable time of 2:21:48 was Keira D’Amato, who fell short of her goal of breaking her American Record of 2:19:12.
https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/
www.nytimes.com/2022/09/25/sports/eliud-kipchoge-marathon-record.html
Top-10: https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2022/09/25/berlin-marathon-results-eliud-kipchoge/
49-year old Deena Kastor ran 2:45:12, completing her long-time goal of finishing all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. The 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and former American Record holder was presented with a Six Star medal for her accomplishment.
Her World Major finishes:
2001-New York (7th)
2002-Chicago (6th)
2003-London (3rd)
2005-Chicago (1st)
2006-London (1st), New York (6th)
2007-Boston(5th)
2009-Chicago (4th)
2010-London (15th)
2014-New York (10th)
2015-Chicago (7th)
2019-Tokyo (48th/age 46)
2022-Berlin (42nd/age 49)
https://www.endurancesportswire.com/deena-kastor-becomes-an-abbottwmm-six-star-finisher/
