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.
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–September 17
1933—Italy’s Luigi Beccali, the 1932 Olympic champion, set a World Record of 3:49.0 for 1500 meters on a 500-meter track in Milan, 8 days after tying the existing record of 3:49.2.
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Beccali
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1500_metres_world_record_progression
1938—Eino Pentti ran 30:54.6 for 10,000 meters in Helsinki to break Don Lash’s 2-year-old American Record of 31:06.9. Pentti, a 2-time Olympian at 10,000 meters (1932-DNF,1936-16th), was also a 3-time U.S. Champion at a distance (1934,1937,1938).
From his Wiki bio: “He also became a licensed physiotherapist and worked as a well-respected massage therapist in New York, mostly with the New York Athletic Club. His celebrity clientele includes actors like Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, and Al Pacino.” Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eino_Pentti
AR Progression: https://tf-stats.com/american_outdoor_men.php#m_10000
1939 –Taisto Mäki, coached by fellow Finn Paavo Nurmi, ran 29:52.6 in Helsinki to become the first man to run the 10,000 meters in under 30 minutes. He set the previous World Record of 30:02.0 in 1938. He also got credit for a World Record of 6 miles. WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_10,000_metres_world_record_progression
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taisto_Mäki
1986–36-year-old Marina Stepanova (Soviet Union/Russia), competing as a guest at the Spartakiade for under-23-year-olds, ran 52.94 in Tashkent, breaking her own World Record of 53.32 in the 400-Meter Hurdles that she had set at the European Championships the previous month. That would remain the Record until Great Britain’s Sally Gunnell ran 52.74 in 1993. WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_400_metres_hurdles_world_record_progression
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Stepanova
2020–It took 15 tries over the last month, but Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, who set…
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at runblogrun…