This Day in Track & Field History, Paavo Nurmi, Madison Square Gardens, 1959, by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service

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–March 7

1925–Paavo Nurmi ran 4:12 flat to set a World Record in the Mile at the 174th Infantry Armory in New York.

1959—With less than two laps to go in the Mile at the Knights of Columbus meet in Madison Square Garden, Hungary’s Istvan Rózsavölgyi sprinted from 4^th to 1^st and quickly opened up a 5-yard lead on Ron Delany.  The Irishman, the 1956 Olympic champion at 1500 meters and a Garden favorite had closed the gap as they entered the final turn and was able to move ahead in the short run-in to the finish line to capture his 30th straight win at a distance! His time of 4:01.4 broke his 2-week-old World Indoor Record of 4:02.5, which was set on the same track at the U.S. Indoor Championships. Rózsavölgyi was also under the old record with his time of 4:01.8.

Delany was mobbed by well-wishers as soon as he crossed the finish line (see video link).

A 2^nd World Indoor Record was set by Australia’s Al Lawrence, who won the 2-Mile in 8:46.7

            Other highlights:

            Two eventual Hall-of-Famers met in the 60y-Hurdles, with Hayes Jones (7.1) edging Lee Calhoun, who would win

    his 2^nd Olympic gold medal in the 110m-Hurdles the following year in Rome. Jones, the bronze medalist in 1960,

    would win his own gold medal in 1964.

            Josh Culbreath (1:10.9) won the 600y over Charlie Jenkins (1:11.1), the 2-time Olympic gold medalist in

    1956 (400,4×400), and Tom Murphy won the 1000y in a quick 2:09.3, just .5s off Arnie Sowell’s WIR of

    2:08.8.

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/03/08/89158138.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

https://vault.si.com/vault/1959/03/16/ron-takes-a-turn-for-the-better

Mile Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T05KblDEDQ

1964—Yale’s Wendell Mottley…