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The Armory Presents: Walt Murphy's This Week in Track and FieldPublished by
For a free sample of his more detailed daily reports, contact Walt at [email protected] This Week in Track & Field July 6-12 July 6 1994: Leroy Burrell ran 9.85 in Lausanne to reclaim the World Record in the 100-meters from Carl Lewis, his friend and training partner. Burrell set his first record of 9.90 at the 1991 U.S. Championships, only to see Lewis run 9,86 two months later at the World Championships in Tokyo (Burrell finished 2nd in 9.88, also under his old mark). Burrell was so happy when he saw his time, he did a well-executed cartwheel as part of his celebration (see video link), Burrell, who is married to Michele Finn, also a world-class sprinter in her time, is currently the head coach at the University of Houston. I was at the meet, working with the TV production company(it aired on CBS), and was able to enjoy a couple of memorable sidetrips in the days leading up to the meet. A group of us took in an evening at the nearby Montreux Jazz Festival. While we didn’t get to see some of the headliners, such as Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Van Morrison, we did get to enjoy some incredible performances from acts like the Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty and Al Di Meola trio and Pat Metheny. Along with others involved with the meet, we were also given a tour of the Olympic Museum, which had just opened up in Lausanne the year before. It was a terrific display of Olympic artifacts, videos, and much more. WR Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83V83eWFaN0 Ron Reid’s Coverage: http://articles.philly.com/1994-07-07/sports/25847141_1_meters-leroy-burrell-santa-monica-track-club Montreux History: http://www.montreuxjazzlive.com/history Olympic Museum: http://www.olympic.org/museum
July 7 1999: Returning to Rome’s Olympic Stadium, where he had set the global best for 1500-meters the year before, Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj outdueled Kenyan Noah Ngeny in one of the greatest races of all-time, winning the mile in 3:43.13 to better Noureddine Morceli’s 6-year old World Record in the mile (3:44.39). Ngeny, who was coming on El Guerrouj down the homestretch, was also under Morceli’s mark with his time of 3:43.40. Those are still the two fastest times in history. Ngeny would upset El Guerrouj the following year to win the gold medal in the 1500-meters at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvCsj7eJKKA WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression Sports Illustrated Vault:
July 8 1967: After lowering his World Record in the mile to 3:51.1 two weeks earlier at the U.S. Championships in Bakersfield (Ca), 20-year od Jim Ryun was planning a solo attack on Herb Elliott's global mark of 3:35.6 for 1500-meters at the USA-British Commonwealth dual meet at the L.A Coliseum. The late addition of Kenya's Kip Keino to the field forced Ryun to change his game-plan, and any chance of a world record here seemed to disappear as the field crawled through a slow first 220y. Canada's Dave Bailey then picked up the pace, but they still went through the 1/4-mile split in a modest 60.9. It was then that Keino resurrected the hopes of the fans, shooting into the lead and covering the 2nd 1/4-mile in a blazing 56-seconds, with Ryun matching his every move. The two legends-to-be were even at the 3/4-split (2:53.5), but Ryun then went into overdrive, pulling away from Keino with every stride. Running 53.5 for his final 400-meters, Ryun crossed the finish line in 3:33.1 to break Elliott's record by an amazing 2.5 seconds, the greatest margin of improvement in the 1500 record since the IAAF era began in 1912. 19-year old Madeline Manning (Mims), who had just completed her freshman year at Tennessee State, upset Australia's Judy Pollock, the world record holder in the event, to win the women's 800-meters in 2:01.6. That time smashed the American Record of 2:03.6 that Manning had set just 6 days earlier when she won her first U.S. title. She would win her 6th (and final) title 14 years later in 1981! A future Hall-of-Famer, Manning would win Olympic gold the following year in Mexico City, and was also a member of the 1972 (silver in the 4x400) and 1976 Olympic teams. A devout Christian, Manning-Mims still stays close to the sport as an athletes' chaplain at events like the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games. High jumper Brigetta Barrett, the silver medalist at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 World Championships, gets a lot of attention these days for her renditions of the National Anthem, but she's not yet up to the standard that Manning-Mims has set over the years! This video might not be her best version, but it does display her powerful voice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51QWZijk6Dk WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression Sports Illustrated Vault: http://www.si.com/vault/1967/07/17/610094/the-best-record-yet 1500 Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBXu_K6bp8E Hall of Fame Bios: Ryun: http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=142 Manning-Mims: http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/tf/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=100 Video Bio(Manning): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRIWPzoZlNI:
July 9 1948: Future Hall-of-Famer Fortune Gordien set the first of his four World Records in the discus with his throw of 185-3 (56.46m) in Lisbon, Portugal. Gordien, a 3-time Olympian(and 2-time medalist: bronze-’48, silver-’56), was a 3-time NCAA Champion while at the University of Minnesota (1946-1948) and led the Gophers to the 1948 NCAA team title (he was also 2nd in the shot put that year). He was also a 6-time U.S. Champion in the discus (1947-50, 1953-1954). Barney Ewell(10.33) beat Mel Patton (10.45) to win the 100-meters, with hurdles specialist Harrison “Bones” Dillard10.50) edging Ed Conwell (10.53) to gain the 3rd spot on the U.S. team. The significance of Dillard's performance took on added importance the next day after he failed to make the team in the 110-hurdles! In one of the biggest surprised in Olympic history, Dillard went on to win the gold medal in the 100 at the London Olympics later in the year. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0329899/ Hall of Fame Bios Gordien(1979): http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=60 Patton(1985): http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=128 Ewell(1986): http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=51
July 10 1912: WIth five men still in contention coming off the final turn, this would be hailed as the first great Olympic 1500-meter final. Great Britain’s Arnold Jackson(3:56.8-OR) emerged as the winner over the American trio of Abel Kiviat(3:56.9), who had set a World Record of 3:55-4/5 at the U.S. Trials, Norman Taber (3:56.9), and John Paul Jones( 3:57.2). Finishing a close 5th was Sweden’s Ernst Wide (3:57.6). Running his 4th distance race in 4 days, 10,000 winner Hannes Kolehmainen of Finland won his 2nd gold medal of the Games by taking a hard-fought 5000-meters in the World Record time of 14:36.6. Kolehmainen had to chase down France’s Jean Bouin (14:36.7) in the final 20-meters to secure the win. WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5000_metres http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ko/hannes-kolehmainen-1.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannes_Kolehmainen American Ralph Rose (15.25/50-1/2) appeared to be on his way to winning his 3rd gold medal in the shot put, but teammate Pat McDonald came through in the 4th round with a personal best of 50-4 to come away with the win. Rose later beat McDonald to win the “Both Hands” shot put (7-11) with a total distance of 90.10 (27.70). Hall of Fame Bios Kiviat: www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=89 Rose(1976): tinyurl.com/2w7bhl McDonald: http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=254
July 11 1973: Having been let go from my job on Wall Street in April, I had driven cross-country,taking in the NCAA meet in Baton Rouge and the U.S. Championships in Bakersfield. After returning home, I decided to continue my extended “vacation” by heading to Europe to take in a series of meets. First up was the meet between the US and West Germany (and Switzerland), which took place in the stadium that was the site of the previous year’s Olympic Games. I was walking up the aisle to my seat when, much to my amazement, I heard someone yell, “Walter”! It was a relatively new friend from the Princeton area, Larry “The Colonel” Sullivan, a former pilot for “The Flying Tigers” who was known to travel anywhere in the world on the spur of the moment to take in a meet (gee, that sounds familiar). Sullivan, who passed away in 2005, would later have a profound influence on the coaching careers of fellow New Jerseyans Mark Wetmore and Jason Vigilante--but that’s a story for another time. As we both marveled at the set of circumstances that brought us together a long way from home, I had to interrupt Larry, saying, “I think we better pay attention to the high jump. I think Dwight’s going for a world record”. Sure enough, 19-year old Dwight Stones, winner of the bronze medal in this stadium at the 1972 Olympics, was getting ready to jump at the world record height of 7-6 1/2 and the metric barrier of 2.30. He needed three attempts, but he cleared cleanly on his final jump, his 18th(!) of the competition, to top Pat Matzdorf’s 2-year old world record of 7-6 1/4 (ratified as 2.29, which now converts to 7-6). Stones, who thought he had partied too much the night before to be able to jump well here, became the first proponent of the Fosbury Flop style of jumping to hold the world record in the event. It was also the first of his three outdoor world records. Stones’ mid-flight open-mouthed reaction to his record jump is displayed beautifully on the cover of the July II issue of Track & Field News (see link below). Speaking about the flop, Stones said at the time, "One regret I have, is that I've never met [Valery] Brumel. He struck terror into the hearts of his opposition. If I can do for the flop what he did for the straddle, if I can remain a force with my technique, then I'll accomplish what I want to in track and field. I'm convinced that the flop is a much more natural, logical, normal technique, the best way to correlate maximum speed with the right amount of strength. When all goes right, it's a great feeling. I feel that there is this one small tube that you flow through up over the bar and float right down. Sometimes three steps before the bar I know I'll make it." Sports Illustrated Vault http://www.si.com/vault/1974/02/04/661351/all-gall-divided-into-three-parts WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men's_high_jump_world_record_progression T&F News Cover(July II): http://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/archivemenu/28-covers/132-past-covers-1973
July 12 1936(7-11,12): With the Triborough Bridge(which opened on the first day of competition) providing easy access, New York fans, along with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, flocked to Randall's Island for the U.S. Olympic Trials, the first major event to be held in what would later be known as Downing Stadium. The star of the show, which was conducted over 2-days in temperatures that reached 100-degrees, was, of course, Jesse Owens, who won the 100 (10.4), 200 (21.4-American Record), and long jump (7-11/25-10 3/4). Finishing 2nd in the 100 (7-11) was Ralph Metcalfe, who would win the silver medal behind Owens at the Berlin Olympics. 5th in the race was Hall-of-Fame sports announcer Marty Glickman. Eulace Peacock, one of the early favorites to make the team, was eliminated in the first round after suffering a relapse of a hamstring injury he first incurred at the Penn Relays in April. 2nd to Owens in the 200(7-12) was Mack Robinson, the brother of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Robinson, like Metcalfe, duplicated his Trials finish in Berlin. Peacock-What If?: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/sports/olympics/eulace-peacock-forgotten-rival-of-jesse-owens.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y In addition to Owens, who would win four, others who went on to win gold medals in Berlin were Archie Williams (400), John Woodruff (800), Forrest “Spec” Towns (110-hurdles), Glenn Hardin (400-hurdles), Earle Meadows (pole vault), and Ken Carpenter (discus). The great Glenn Cunnigham won the silver medal in the 1500-meters. Helen Stephens, who won the 100 and the discus at the U.S. Women’s Trials, which were held in Providence, RI, on the 4th of July, won the gold medal in the 100 in Berlin. Cornelius Johnson and 2nd-placer Dave Albritton both cleared 6-9 ¾ (2.08m) to share a World Record in the high jump. They won gold and silver, respectively, in Berlin. Finishing in a dead-heat for first in the 5000 at the men’s Trials were Don Lash and 19-year old Lou Zamperini, who had graduated the year before from Torrance H.S. in California. Zamperini, who went on to win NCAA mile titles in 1938 and 1939 while competing for Southern Cal, was part of a B-24 crew during World War II that was searching for a downed plane Mechanical problems forced their own plane into the Pacific Ocean, beginning an odyssey that included 47 days adrift in a life raft and a brutal internment in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. Zamperini passed away earlier this month at the age of 97. Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Seabiscuit, chronicles Zemperini’s life in “Unbroken”, the best-selling biography that received the Cordner Nelson Book Award at the 2011 TAFWA(T&F Writers of America) meeting at the U.S. Championships in Eugene. The movie version, directed by Angelina Jolie, is scheduled for release on Christmas Day. More on Zamperini: Video Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9O5yVzc0vQ http://www.npr.org/2010/11/19/131452279/an-olympian-battered-but-unbroken-by-war Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/6e7mdvc 1945 Article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,854446,00.html http://www.sportshumanitarian.com/inductees/louis_zamperini.html http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-10768.html (Scroll down). Movie Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1809398/
Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/arts/louis-zamperini-olympian-war-survivor-unbroken-dies.html?_r=0 Walt Murphy's News and Results Service ([email protected]) (c)Copyright 2015-all rights reserved. May not be reprinted or retransmitted without permission.
"From The Armory Archives" information is compiled by Jack Pfiefer, Director of College Track and field at The Armory. More news
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