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.
This Day in Track & Field–February 28
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (WaltMurphy44@gmail.com), used with permission
1925–Paavo Nurmi won the 2-mile title in 9:09.6 at the U.S. Indoor Championships in Louisville.
1953—“Marvelous” Mal Whitfield was chasing five world indoor records at the Knights of Columbus meet at Madison Square Garden but had to settle for “only” two. After falling short in the 880y/800 (1:50.9/1:50.1), the 2-time Olympic gold medalist in the 800 meters came back 70-minutes later to get his two new marks in the 600y, winning in 1:09.5 after passing through 500-meters in 1:02.9. His final record attempt came in the mile relay, but his Grand Street Boys team fell short with their winning time of 3:18.2.
(For Subscribers):https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/03/01/93397538.html?pageNumber=186
1970—Caroline Walker, a 16-year-old junior at Grant H.S. in Portland, set a World Record of 3:02.53 at the Trail’s End Marathon in Seaside, Oregon.
From her Wikipedia Bio: “In the early 1970s, Walker attended the University of Oregon where she received instruction from the legendary Steve Prefontaine. After Prefontaine’s death, she lived in his house with his girlfriend and sister”. “(He) gave me the compliment of saying that I was the person most like him of anybody he’d ever met”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Walker_(athlete)
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_world_record_progressionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Walker
1986–Sergey Bubka broke his own week-old World Indoor Record in the Pole Vault when he cleared 19-6 ¼ (5.95) at the U.S. Indoor Championships in New York. Lynn Jennings (9:28.15) held off Cindy Bremser (9:28.29) in the 2-mile as both were under Mary Slaney’s previous American Record of 9:31.7. Johnny Gray just missed his 5-day old World Record in the 1000y (2:04.39), running 2:04.52 to…
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