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–October 20
1956— Records were set in three events in Ontario, California, at a tuneup meet for the Melbourne Olympics. Leamon King ran 10.1 to equal the World Record in the 100-meters, and American Records were set by Max Truex in the 5000 (14:22.8) and Ira Davis in the Triple Jump (51-11[15.82]).
1964—Germany’s Willi Holdorf won the Decathlon at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo with a score of 7887 points, with the silver going to Estonia’s Rein Aun (7842) and the bronze to another German, Hans-Joachim Wolde (7809). American Paul Herman finished 4th (7787), leaving the U.S. without a medal in the event for the first time in Olympic history.
5th was C.K. Yang, the silver medalist at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. The former UCLA star had set a monumental World Record of 9,121 points in 1963, thanks in large part to his success with the relatively new fiberglass implement in the Pole Vault. However, new scoring tables that took effect in 1964 lessened Yang’s advantage in that event.
Great Britain’s Ann Packer won the Women’s 800-Meters with a World Record time of 2:01.1. Finishing 2nd and 3rd were France’s Maryvonne Dupureur (2:01.9) and New Zealand’s Marise Chamberlain (2:02.8).
North Korea’s Shin Geum-Dan had run 1:58.0 the previous month, but couldn’t compete in Tokyo because her country had been suspended by the IAAF (she also couldn’t get credit for a WR).
A day after winning the Discus, the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Tamara Press (59-6 ¼ [18.14]/OR) won a 2nd gold in the Women’s Shot Put. Winning silver and bronze were East Germany’s Renate Garisch (57-9 ½ [17.61]) and the Soviet Union’s (and Russia’s) Galina Zybina (57-3 [17.45]).
Medalists/Results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1964_Summer_Olympics
Olympedia Reports: http://www.olympedia.org/editions/16/sports/ATH
Coincidentally, Kon Ichikawa’s memorable documentary (Tokyo Olympiad-2 hours) was released in the U.S. on this date in 1965!:
CLICK HERE to Read the Full Original Article at runblogrun…