This Day in Track & Field, October 2, Gelindo Bordin wins Seoul Olympics (1988), Grant Holloway wins Doha WC (2019),

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by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission

This Day in Track & Field–October 2 

1988—Italy’s Gelindo Bordin won the Men’s Marathon at the Seoul Olympics in 2:10:32. 2^nd was Kenya’s Douglas Wakiihuri (2:10:47), the 1987 World Champion, and 3^rd was Djibouti’s Ahmed Salah (2:10:59), who won the silver medal at the 1987 Worlds.

Other significant finishers included Australia’s Steve Moneghetti (5th/2:11:49), Great Britain’s Charlie Spedding (6^th/2:12:19), Tanzania’s Juma Ikangaa (7^th/2:13:06), Australia’s Rob de Castella (8^th/2:13:07), American Pete Pfitzinger (14^th/2:14:44), Italy’s Orlando Pizzolato (16^th/2:15:20), and American Ed Eyestone (29^th/2:18:08).

37-year old Philadelphia native Gary Fanelli, a 2:14 marathoner in his prime, applied for a job as the track coach for American Samoa after learning that part of the deal would enable him to represent the country in Seoul. The fun-loving Fanelli, who wknown for wearing costumes (Blues Brother, Chef Boyardee) while running marathons in the U.S., got the job and finished(2:25:35)!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1988_Summer_Olympics_–_Men%27s_marathon

Fanelli:

www.upi.com/Archives/1988/09/15/Gary-Fanelli-a-37-year-old-marathon-runner-from-Philadelphia-will/2975590299200/

Sports Illustrated Vault (Fanelli)

1989—The Athletics Congress (TAC-the forerunner of USATF) announced that they were beginning a “year-round, out-of-competition drug testing program aimed at curbing substance abuse in the sport in the United States. Under the new plan the top 15 U.S. athletes in each event are subject to random selection for testing within 48 hours of notification.”

2019—American Grant Holloway (13.10) won the Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Finishing 2^ndand 3^rd were Russia’s Sergey Shubenkov (13.15), the 2013 World Champion, and France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (13.18). Jamaica’s Omar McLeod once again had problems late in a race and was…