This Day in Track & Field-December 27
1963–The Gerry Lindgren era began in earnest on this date. Running against an all-star prep field in the 2-mile at the San Francisco Examiner Holiday Inv., the senior from Rogers H.S. in Spokane, WA, ran 9:00.0 to smash the previous U.S. High School indoor record by more than 23 seconds. The mark also bettered the outdoor record by more than 9 seconds. Finishing 2nd in the race was another precocious youngster, Jim Ryun, who was also under the old record with a time of 9:22.6. Ryun had to make up a massive deficit after falling shortly after the start of the race.
In 1964, Lindgren lowered the record to a fantastic 8:40.0 (on the same track), made the U.S. Olympic team at 10,000 meters (Ryun made the team in the 1500), and beat the Soviets at 10,000 meters. The 2-mile record lasted nearly 50 years until Edward Cheserek ran 8:39.15 at the 2013 Millrose Games.
Tracy Walters, LIndgren’s coach at Rogers H.S., said of his 9-flat race a year later, “I’ve wondered how well Gerry would have fared if he had not been invited (to that meet). We knew he was good, but that meet led immediately to other invitations to top races where he gained great experience and fast marks. This set him (up) for the outdoor season. He might not have been adequately prepared psychologically for the national meets. I really don’t know how he would have done”. (From T&F News)
Lindgren was inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame in 2004 and the National H.S. Hall of Fame in 2018.
2012 Interview: http://www.garycohenrunning.com/Interviews/Lindgren.aspx
Hall of Fame Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/gerry-lindgren
Wiki Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Lindgren
H.S. HOF: http://nationalhighschooltrackandfieldhof.org/showcase/gerry-lindgren/
Lindgren: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vywkRFyBNNI
Acceptance Speech: https://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=236373
Tracy Walters talked about Lindgren during his appearance on Pat Tyson’s Footprints in the Sand podcast in early 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgflPyEe5Ro
Born On This Day*
Maicel Uibo—Estonia 32 (1992) 2-time NCAA Champion—Decathlon (Georgia/2014,2015/2013-5th/2016-3rd)
Silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships—scored a personal best of 8604 in Doha
Bronze medalist in the Heptathlon at the 2018 World Indoor Championships
World Championships: 2013-19th, 2015-10th, 2017-DNF, 2019 (2nd), 2022 (7th)
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