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This Day in Track & Field–May 2
by Walt Murphy News and Result Service (WMurphy25@gmail.com), used with permission.
1914-Fred “King” Kelly ran 15-flat at the Pacific Coast Conference Championships in Berkeley, California, to equal the American Record in the 120-yard hurdles (but not ratified as a World Record by the IAAF).
Kelly won the 110-meter hurdles at the 1912 Olympics to become USC’s first gold medalist. He later became a pioneer in the early days of aviation.
When asked years later who his best performer was, Dean Cromwell, a National Hall of Fame charter member, didn’t hesitate in naming Kelly. “I’m speaking from the competitive standpoint. There never was a better competitor than Kelly.”
In a special High Jump, Ed Beeson cleared 6-7 5/16 (2.01) to break the 2-year-old World Record of 6-7 (2.007), which was set by George Horine, who was second here (6-1/2 [1.84]).
Kelly
USC’s Olympic Heritage
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78643
1925—Glenn “Tiny” Hartranft, who had won the silver medal in the Shot Put at the 1924 Olympics, set a World Record of 157-1 5/8 (47.89) in the Discus at the Pacific AAU meet in San Francisco. He went on to become the head football and baseball coach at San José State.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Hartranft
1953–Roger Bannister, with a previous best of 4:07.8, gave an inkling of what was to come a year later when he ran 4:03.6 for the mile in London. Just as he would do in Bannister’s historic 3:59.4, fellow Brit Chris Chataway helped set the pace, leading through the 1/2-mile split in 2:04 before dropping out. “This race made me realize that the four-minute mile was not out of reach,” said Bannister then.
Bannister’s time broke the British Record of 4:04.2, set by former World Record holder Sydney Wooderson in 1945.
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