This Day in Track & Field, January 29, Alistair Cragg upsets Kenenisa Bekele (2005) at Boston Indoor Games, by Walt Murphy

Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service  (wmurphy25@aol.com)

This Day in Track & Field–January  29

1949—Wisconsin junior Don Gehrmann won the 1st of his 4 straight Wanamaker Miles on a brand new track at Madison Square Garden in front of 15,000 fans.

Harrison Dillard (60y-hurdles/7.3) and Bob Richards (Pole Vault/14-4 [4.37]) each won their respective events at Millrose for the 3^rd year in a row.

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1949/01/30/96612317.html?pageNumber=150

1953 (New)—Villanova’s Fred Dwyer (4:08.2) won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in front of 15,000 fans at Madison Square Garden. Finishing a surprisingly close 2^nd to Dwyer was Brown’s Walt Molineux (4:08.5), with Fred Wilt and 4-time defending Wanamaker champion trailing in 3^rd and 4^th.

Five gold medalists from the previous year’s Olympics in Helsinki followed up with Millrose wins.

2-mile: Horace Ashenfelter-8:54.6 (Steeplechase)

60y: Andy Stanfield-6.3 (200)

600y: Mal Whitfield-1:10.9 (800)

Pole Vault: Bob Richards 15-0 (PV)

60y-Hurdles: Harrison Dillard 7.3 (110-hurdles)

Richards and Dillard extended their Millrose winning streaks to 7!

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/01/30/96494596.html?pageNumber=15

1955—Future Hall-of-Famer Wes Santee ran 4:03.8 in the Mile before a packed house at the Boston A.A. meet, breaking his own World Record of 4:04.9.

NY Times Obituary(2010)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/sports/15santee.html?_r=0

1971(updated)—Marty Liquori was hoping to present Millrose Games meet director Fred Schmertz with the meet’s first sub-4 mile, but fell just short with his winning time of 4:00.6 after going through the ¾-mile split in a slower-than-hoped-for 3:05.5. It was the 3^rd straight Wanamaker win for Liquori, who tied Tom O’Hara’s Meet Record.

Other winners included Lee Evans in the 600y (1:10.5),  Cheryl Toussaint in the 880y (2:10.0-MR), and Australia’s (and UTEP’s) Kerry Pearce, who won the 2-mile (8:36.4-MR) over Frank Shorter (8:38.2).

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/01/30/81996622.html?pageNumber=17

1982–It was a night to remember for pole vault fans in Toronto. France’s Thierry Vigneron, the Indoor (18-8  ¼ [5.70]) and Outdoor (19-1/4 [5.80]) World Record holder, was favored to win, but he went out early after only clearing 18-1/2 (5.50).

That opened the door for an American to win, but who would it be? Dave Volz and Billy Olson both cleared18-4  ½ (5.60), while Earl Bell passed after missing once at that height.

The bar was then set at the pre-determined height of 18-6  ½ (5.65), which was equal to Olson’s week-old American Record.  Olson passed, while Volz and Bell both cleared, leaving all three as co-record holders.

But Olson wasn’t done for the night as he was the only one who cleared 18-8  ¾ (5.71) to take the World Record away from Vigneron.

http://www.si.com/vault/1982/02/08/564726/they-broadcast-their-ability

WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_indoor_world_record_progression

1994—Running on his home track at the Michigan Relays, Kevin Sullivan, a freshman from Canada, ran a 4:00.1 anchor to lead the Wolverines to a Collegiate Record of 9:33.72 in the Distance Medley Relay. Handling the first 3 legs were Nick Karfonta (1:51.2), Trinity Townsend (47.3), and Scott MacDonald (2:57.1).

The previous mark of 9:35.29 was set by Arkansas in 1984, and the Razorbacks didn’t waste much time in reclaiming the record, running 9:30.07 at the NCAA Championships in March.

2005–Spectators at the Reggie Lewis Center got their money’s worth at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. Among the highlights:

Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba set a World Record of 14:32.93 for 5000-meters and collected a bonus of $25,000 (still #7

performance all-time).

Teammate Meseret Defar won the 3000-meters in 8:30.05, just short of the World Record of 8:29.15.

Laban Rotich beat Bernard Lagat (3:53.61) in the Mile and set a Kenyan Record of 3:53.18

        Kenenisa Bekele thought he had won the men’s 3000-meters, but then realized he had started his kick a lap too early. Ireland’s Alistair Cragg took advantage of Bekele’s mistake and went on to win in 7:39.89. Bekele was able to salvage 2nd place (7:41.42).

            Sweden’s Carolina Klüft, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the Heptathlon, won the Women’s Long Jump with a leap of 21-9 (6.63)

IAAF Report: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/tirunesh-dibaba-runs-143293-world-indoor-5000

https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/boston-footnotes-1

Results: https://www.nbindoorgrandprix.com/meet-info/history/history-2005/

2010–Bernard Lagat (3:56.34) broke a tie with Eamonn Coghlan by winning his record 8th Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games. Coghlan was the honorary starter of the race and presented Lagat with the Waterford Crystal award he earned as the meet’s Outstanding Performer.

Cory McGee (Pass Christian,MS), currently one of the best 1500-meter runners in the U.S., won the High School Girls Mile in 4:52.77.

In a special “Super Bowl” 60 for former NFL players, Anthony Dorsett (7.01) beat Phillip Buchanon (7.03), Willie Gault (7.07), and Tim Dwight (7.25)

http://tinyurl.com/LagatWanamaker8

Results: http://flashresults.com/2010_Meets/indoor/Millrose/

https://worldathletics.org/news/news/lagat-makes-it-eight-at-millrose-games

2021—The University of Oregon set a Collegiate Indoor Record of 9:19.42 in the Distance Medley in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The previous mark of 9:24.52 was set by another quartet of Ducks in 2020. They also bettered the Outdoor Record of 9:20.10. They also ran faster than the World Indoor Record of 9:19.93, but they ran with a mixed nationality team (Peralta-Domincan Republic, Hunter-Australia)

Lineup: (Cole Hocker 2:49.9 [No. 2 indoor split ever?], Luis Peralta’ 47.3, Charlie Hunter’ 1:47.6, Cooper Teare 3:54.6)

2022—The Millrose Games returned to NY’s Armory after a year’s absence due to Covid.

Christian Coleman (6.49) edged Trayvon Bromell (6.50) to win the Men’s 60m. Next across the finish line in this loaded field were Ronnie Baker (6.54) and Noah Lyles (6.62)

Ollie Hoare celebrated his 25^th birthday by winning the Men’s Wanamaker Mile with an Australian Record of 3:50.83. Finishing 9^th in 3:59.71 was New Zealand’s Nick Willis, marking the 20^th consecutive year that the Armory veteran had run a sub-4 minute mile!

It was originally thought that Ryan Crouser had broken his World Indoor Record with his opening toss of 76-8  ½ (23.38), but it was quickly determined that the measuring device had been accidentally moved from its correct position!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyEVffwmrsg

Crouser’s Reaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TykTbdFjZ4g

Other Highlights:

Ajee’ Wilson won the Women’s 800m for the 6^th time at Millrose (2:01.38).

Alicia Monson set a Meet Record of 8:31.62 in the Women’s 3000m.

Tara Davis (21-7  ½ [6.59]) won the Women’s Long Jump over fellow Olympic teammates Quanesha Burks (21-5  ½ [6.54/6.42]) and triple jump specialist Keturah Orji (21-5  ½ [6.54/6.40]).

Elle Purrier-St.Pierre won her 2^nd Women’s Wanamaker Mile in 4:19.30.

Gavin Sherry won the H.S. Boys Mile with a Meet Record time of 4:06.58.

Results: https://results.millrosegames.org

Videos: Highlights  M800  M3000  M-Mile  W-Mile M60  M400  W60  W60h  W800  M60h  W400

Google 2022 Millrose Games for many more videos

Wanamaker Mile

Past Winners: http://www.runningpast.com/wanamaker_mile.htm

History (through 2020): https://www.racingpast.ca/bob-phillips.php?id=72

2022—Florida sophomore Jasmine Moore reached out to 47-9 (14.55) in the Triple Jump at Clemson to break the Collegiate Record of 47-8 (14.53) that was set by Georgia’s Keturah Orji in 2018. She would improve the Record to         47-9  ¾ (14.57) while winning the NCAA title in March

Significant Birthdays

Born On This Day*

Erriyon Knighton  21 (2004) 2-time medalist in the 200m at the World Championships…2022-bronze, 2023-silver

        2023 U.S. Champion-200 (Noah Lyles didn’t compete in the event, since he had a bye into the World

               Championships)

           17 at the time, he made the 2021 U.S. Olympic team with his 3^rd-place finish in the 200-Meters at

               the Trials. Ran 19.88 in his semi-final to break Usain Bolt’s World Junior (Under-20) Record. Improved the Record

               to 19.84 in the final. Finished 4^th at the Tokyo Olympics and again in Paris in 2024

           Lowered the Record to 19.49 in Baton Rouge(LA), in April, 2022, to move to #5 on the All-Time world list (Now

                #6).

           Announced early in 2021 that he was turning professional. He signed a contract with adidas and is represented by

                 Ramon Clay and John Regis.

           Attended Hillsborough H.S. in Tampa, Florida.

           6’-3”, 170 (1.91/77)

           PBs: 10.04 (2022), 20.21i (2024), 19.49 (2022), 47.55 (2020); 2024 SB: 19.77

           19.49: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks9f1r6tMpk

           https://www.teamusa.org/usa-track-and-field/athletes/Erriyon-Knighton

           https://trackandfieldnews.com/teen-sprint-sensation-erriyon-knighton-goes-pro/

           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erriyon_Knighton

           https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/147326

           https://www.instagram.com/erriyon.k/?hl=en

Oliver “Ollie” Hoare-Australia 28 (1997) 2018 NCAA Champion-1500m (Wisconsin)

           2021 Olympic finalist-1500 (11^th)

           2022 Commonwealth Games Champion

           Silver medalist in the mixed-relay at the 2023 World X-Country Championships

           Eliminated in the semi-final round at the 2022 World Championships

           Passed up the 2023 World Championships after an MRI test revealed that it was a small sports hernia that was

              causing his discomfort when he ran. Felt it was best to fully recover before continuing his preparation for the Paris

              Olympics. Eliminated in the repechage round in Paris

           5^th in the 1500 at the 2022 World Indoor Championships

           Winner of the Wanamaker Mile at the 2022 Millrose Games

           Oceania Indoor & Outdoor Record holder in the 1500 and Mile, and is also the Indoor Record holder in the 5000

           Trains in Boulder, Colorado, as a member of the On Athletic Club

           Followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, both of whom were runners. Competed in “beach running”

              in Australia before concentrating solely on running. (From his Wikipedia bio)

           PBs: 3:29.41 (2023), 3:32.35i (2021), 3:47.48 (2022), 3:50.83i (2022 & 2023), 7:48.81i (2019), 13:09.96i

              (Dec.2021); 2024 SBs: 3:31.07, 3:49.03

           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollie_Hoare

           Tough Decision: https://www.nswis.com.au/nswis-news/hoare-makes-tough-world-championships-call/

           From the Beach to the Track:

           https://www.on-running.com/en-fr/stories/olli-hoare-shaped-by-the-sand-to-break-records-on-the-track

        https://www.instagram.com/ollihoare/?hl=en

Khalid Skah—Morocco  58 (1967)  1992 Olympic gold medalist—10,000-meters; Win was marred by the actions of his

              teammate Hammou Boutayeb, who became involved in the race between Skah and Kenya’s Richard Chelimo after

              he was lapped! (Watch the videos)

           2-time World X-Country Champion (1990,1991)

           PBs:3:38.10 (1992), 7:36.76 (1994), 8:12.17/2-miles (1993/WR at the time), 13:00.54 (1994), 27:14.53

                (1995)

        https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5p5nt9

           Controversy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6ISseFy3Fg

           http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/05/sports/barcelona-moroccan-is-awarded-10000-title-after-all.html

           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_Skah

           https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/morocco/khalid-skah-2682

           https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/73346

           Race Report: https://www.olympedia.org/results/64048

Alejandro Casañas-Cuba 71 (1954) 2-time Olympic silver medalist-110 Hurdles (1976, 1980)

           Set a World Record of 13.21 in 1977

           http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/66767

           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Casañas

           https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/cuba/alejandro-casanas-5536