Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)
This Day in Track & Field–May 19
1956–-Duke’s Dave Sime ran 9.3 for the first time at the Carolinas AAU meet in Raleigh to equal the World Record for the 100-yard Dash (he would run 9.3 twice more). The record for the metric version of the 100 was also equaled on this day when Bobby Morrow ran 10.2 at the South USA meet in Houston. Morrow would go on to win 3 gold medals (100, 200, 4×100) at the Melbourne Olympics later in the year, while a previous injury forced Sime to pull up in his heat of the 100 at the U.S. Trials. Both men are members of the National Hall of Fame.
Sime, who would win a silver medal in the 100 at the 1960 Olympics, was an “accidental” sprinter who excelled in baseball, football, and basketball in high school. Working out with the track team to get in shape for baseball during his freshman year at Duke, his speed caught the attention of track coaches Bob Chambers and Al Buehler. “I never saw anything like him,” Buehler said. “He could really move. We timed him in the 100-yard dash on a field that wasn’t groomed, and he ran the distance in 9.8 seconds. We knew he could do better after some training, and we were ecstatic. He had enormous talent and intelligence and was a hard worker.” Read more at the link below.
His grandson is San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
NY Times Obituary:
Sime & The CIA!:
www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/may/17/olympics-dave-sime-cia-1960-rome-ukrainians-defect-soviet-union
WR Progression (100m): https://worldathletics.org/records/by-progression/16647
1963—Arizona State’s Henry Carr ran 20.4 in Tempe, Arizona, to set an American Record for 200-meters. Carr would win Olympic gold in the 200 and 4×400 in Tokyo the following year.
1973—Francie Larrieu regained the American Record in the Mile from Doris Brown when she ran 4:38.7 at the Bakersfield Classic.
Larrieu had set the first of her six American Records in the event when she ran 4:41.5 on June 5, 1971, only to have Brown lower the mark to 4:41.3 the next day, and then to 4:39.6 on June 12.
Dwight Stones set many records during his Hall-of-Fame career, but he might have set one here that won’t show up in any stats book!
Locked in a tie at 7-2 ¾ (2.205?) with Robert Joseph after his first 8 jumps, Stones then needed an additional 9 attempts (for a total of 17!) before winning the long jump-off with a 3rd-jump clearance of 7-1 (2.16). (From T&F News)
Fittingly, Larrieu-Smith and Stones, who both competed for Tom Jennings’ Pacific Coast Club, were inducted into the National Hall of Fame together in 1998.
Hall of Fame Bios
Larrieu-Smith: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/francine-larrieu-smith
Stones: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/dwight-stones
1975—Germany’s Karl-Hans Riehm had quite a day in Rehlingen, Germany. He set 3 World Records in the Hammer, and all six of his throws were better than the previous record of 251-6 (76.66)
His series:
251-08 76.70WR
254-05 77.56WR
251-11 77.10
257-06 78.50WR
253-02 77.16
253-06 77.28
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_hammer_throw_world_record_progression
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70465
1978–Jumping at the PAC-8 Championships in Corvallis, Oregon, UCLA senior Mike Tully thought he had broken the World Record in the Pole Vault when he cleared 18-8 ¾ (5.71m), but his celebration was short-lived. While officials were trying to remeasure the height for confirmation (per IAAF rules), the crossbar fell off, and when it was replaced the official mark became 18-8 (5.69m)!
Confusion
1979—Jan Merrill ran 15:33.8 at the Lite Invitational in Durham,NC, to break Kathy Mills’ American Record of 15:35.52. 2nd in 15:43.1 was Joan Benoit.
Edwin Moses won the 400-Meter Hurdles in 47.69, the 4th-fastest time in history at the time.
Candy Young, a junior at Beaver Falls (PA) H.S. won the 100-Meter Hurdles in 13.34, breaking her own American Junior and High School Records of 13.45.
1985—Oklahoma State’s Joe Dial vaulted 19-2 ¼ (5.85) in Norman,OK, to break his 9-day old American record of 19-1 ½ (5.83).
1990–Houston’s Leroy Burrell ran a sensational, but very wind-aided (+4.0), 19.61 to beat Baylor’s Michael Johnson (19.91w) in the 200 at the Southwest Conference Championships in College Station, Texas.
Burrell, now the head coach at Auburn, also won the 100 in a wind-aided 9.94 over Texas A&M’s Andre Cason (10.08) and TCU’s Jon Drummond (10.17).
Burrell is married to Michelle Finn, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist in the 4×100 relay (as is her husband/1st round), a 3-time U.S. Indoor sprint champion (1990-1992), and the 1990 U.S. champion at 100-meters. Son Cameron, who also competed for Houston, was the 2018 NCAA Champion in the 100 and the 4×100. Sadly, he passed away in 2021.
http://tinyurl.com/Burrell1961
1991—Baylor’s Bill Payne vaulted 19-2 ¾ (5.86) at the Southwest Conference Championships in Houston, breaking Joe Dial’s 6-year old Collegiate Record of 19-2 ¼ (5.85).
1995—USC’s Balázs Kiss, a junior from Hungary, set the current Collegiate Record of 268-10 (81.94) in the Hammer Throw at the PAC-10 Championships in Tucson. He would win the 3rd of his 4 NCAA titles later in the month and went on to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Another CR was set by UCLA’s Amy Acuff, who won the Women’s High Jump with a clearance of 6-6 (1.98/now =#4 All-Time).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balázs_Kiss
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Acuff
2012—China’s Liu Xiang (12.97) gave his hometown fans in Shanghai what they came to see, winning the 110-meter hurdles at the Diamond League meeting (in the rain) over a world-class field that included American Record holder David Oliver (13.13), 2011 World Champion Jason Richardson (13.16), and Aries Merritt (13.26), who would excel later in the year by winning Olympic gold in London and setting the current World Record of 12.80 in Brussels.
Unfortunately for Liu, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist, his season (and his career) came to a sad end when he crashed into the 1st hurdle at the London Games, injuring his right ankle. Determined to cross the finish line one more time, he hopped on his left foot on the outside of the row of hurdles and was then helped off the track by his fellow competitors. It was the 2nd Olympic disappointment in a row for Liu, who was unable to get through the 1st round at the Beijing Olympics.
Videos
Shanghai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wylom4zstS8
2012 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa50gXELqp0
Born On This Day*
Livio Berruti-Italy 85 (1939) Delighted Italian fans by winning the 200-meters at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
Equaled the World Record of 20.5 in the semi-finals and final in Rome…beat co-record holders Ray Norton and
Stone Johnson in the final. PB:20.62 (1960)
“(His) win was greeted by joyous hysteria as the home crowd set fire to their programs giving the stadium an
almost eerie glow in the fading light of the day”. From the Progression of IAAF World Records.
Ranked #1 in the world in 1960 and 1961 (#2-1959, #7-1962)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/71860
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livio_Berruti
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/-/14359736
Igor Ter-Ovanesyan 87 (1938) 2-time Olympic bronze medalist—Long Jump (1960,1964/4th in 1968)
Tied Ralph Boston’s World Record of 27-4 ¾ (8.35) in Mexico City in 1967
Set 3 World Indoor Records—best of 27-0 (8.23/1966)
Winner at the 1963 and 1965 U.S. Indoor Championships (over Ralph Boston)
From Olympedia: Ter-Ovanesyan finished his sports career after the 1972 Olympics and later worked as an
athletics coach. His most famous pupils were the 1980 Olympic long jump champion Tatyana Kolpakova and
1980 Olympic long jump bronze medalist Valeriy Pidluzhniy. From 1983-89 Ter-Ovanesyan was head coach of
the Soviet national track & field team.
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Ter-Ovanesyan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GaJumUK5e0
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77684
PBS Interview:
http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/sports/deep/interv/s_int_igor_ter-ovanesyan.htm
https://theolympians.co/2015/10/05/sprinter-jumper-recruiter-spy-attempting-to-turn-igor-ter-ovanesyan/
Deceased
Herman Brix(aka Bruce Bennett) 100 (1906-Feb.24, 2007) 1928 Olympic silver medalist—Shot Put
4-time U.S. Champion (1928-1931); 2-time U.S. Indoor Champion (1930,1932)
1927 NCAA Champion while at Washington (1926-5th, 1928-3rd);
Set 3 American Records
Portrayed Tarzan in the movies
The Washington Post quoted Gabe Essoe’s passage from his book Tarzan of the Movies: “Brix’s portrayal was the
only time between the silents and the 1960s that Tarzan was accurately depicted in films. He was mannered,
cultured, soft-spoken, a well educated English lord who spoke several languages, and didn’t grunt.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/obituaries/02brix.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Bennett
The New Adventures of Tarzan (Full Movie!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NXZhxr1JUM
Movie Career: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071636/
Jānis Lūsis— Latvia 80 (1939-April 29, 2020) Won a complete set of Olympic medals in the Javelin—Gold-’68, Silver-’72,
Bronze-’64; (8th in 1976);
Set two World Records with the “old” javelin: 301-9 (91.98/’68; 307-9 (93.80/’72)
4-time European Champion (1962,1966,1969,1971)
Member of the IAAF Hall of Fame
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jānis_Lūsis
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/hall-of-fame
’68 OG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSrQ0TRoRhs
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77549
Percy Williams—Canada 74 (1908-Nov.29, 1982) 1928 Olympic gold medalist—100,200
Virtually unknown outside of Canada when he won his Olympic titles.
Winner of the 100-yard dash at the inaugural British Empire Games (aka-Commonwealth Games) in 1930.
First man to run 100-Meters in 10.3 (1930)
Canadian Press poll named him Canada’s “Greatest Olympic Athlete” in 1972.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/66279
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Williams_(sprinter)
Tadeusz Ślusarski—Poland 48 (1950-Aug.17, 1998) 1976 Olympic gold medalist—Pole Vault (1980-Silver)
From Olympedia: “On the evening of 17 August 1998, Ślusarski and Olympic Shot Put champion Władysław Komar
and former sprinter Krzysztof Świostek were returning from the Eugeniusz Pietrasika Memorial Cup, held in
Międzyzdroje, when their car, driven by Ślusarski, collided with a car trying to pass them near the village of
Ostromice on road E65. Ślusarski and Komar died on the scene, while the driver of the other car, former long
sprinter Jarosław Marzec, died four days later in hospital.
PB: 18-8 ¼ (5.70/1983)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/74839
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadeusz_Ślusarski
OG Reports
1976: https://www.olympedia.org/results/61763
1980: https://www.olympedia.org/results/62325
Karl Salb 75 (1949-August 17, 2024) 3-time NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion—Shot Put (Kansas/1969-1971)
Led a Kansas sweep at the ’69 and ’70 NCAA Indoor Championships (Steve Wilhelm, Doug Knop)
1971 U.S. Champion; 4th at the 1968 U.S. Olympic Trials, 6th in 1972; PB:68-9 ¾I (20.97/1973)
Set a National H.S. Record of 69-6 (21.18) in 1967
Daughter Amanda was the 1998 NCAA Div.III Champion in the Shot Put
Member of the Collegiate T&F Hall of Fame
https://vault.si.com/vault/1969/05/05/the-top-three-by-a-long-shot
Kansas Relays Hall of Fame: https://kuathletics.com/news/2006/4/3/040306aab_200.aspx
College HOF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roBVAKbjIEM
https://www.facebook.com/groups/415141789800749/posts/1258643375450582/
