This Day in Track & Field–February 4
(1st Wanamaker Mile, Cunningham, 55m?, Olson-19′, “94 Millrose, Lagat, Duplantis, Nilsen-AR/Birthdays-Stefanídi, Gompers, Julie Brown, Carrigan, Arne Åhman)
1926–Running before 16,000 fans at Madison Square Garden, James J. Connolly won the first Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in NY (4:17.2). In the ten previous editions of the meet, the event was conducted at 1-1/2 miles.
The show’s star, though, was Norway’s Charles Hoff, who set the first of his eleven World Indoor Records in the Pole Vault with his clearance of 13-1 (3.99).
Hoff showed versatility by finishing 3rd in the 600y, a star-studded race won by Alan Helffrich in 1:12.7. Johnny Gibson was 2nd, Canada’s Allen Christie 4th, and Adriaan Paulen 5th.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hoff
Helffrich was a gold medalist in the 4×400 relay at the 1924 Olympics and was a 2-time NCAA ½-mile champion(1922-
1923) while at Penn State. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Helffrich
Gibson, a 1928 Olympian in the 400-meter hurdles(and world record holder in the event), became the
coach at Seton Hall for more than 25 years and, like Helfrrich, was a long-time official in the NY Metropolitan area.
NY Times Obituary: http://tinyurl.com/JohnGibsonObit
Paulen was a 3-time Dutch Olympian who went on to become the president of the IAAF from 1976-1981.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriaan_Paulen; http://www.iaaf.org/news/news/the-past-presidents-of-the-iaaf
Other winners included Loren Murchison in the Men’s 40y (4.6), 60y (6.3), and 300y (32.1), and Rosa Grosse in the Women’s 50y (6.4). Murchison’s 3 wins gave him a record total of 14 at Millrose,
Murchison’s Wins
1919—70y Inv., 70y-Handicap
1921—70y
1922—50y, 60y
1923—60y, 300y
1924—60y, 300y
1925—50y, 60y
1926—40y, 60y, 300y
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1926/02/05/101679096.html?pageNumber=15
1933–Kansas sophomore Glenn Cunningham (4:13.0) won the 1st of his 6 Wanamaker Miles in front of a Madison Square Garden record crowd of 17,000 fans. 8 yards back in 2nd was the previous year’s winner, Gene Venzke, the World Indoor Record holder.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1933/02/05/119089959.html?pageNumber=103
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