This Day in Track & Field-September 8, Pyotr Bolotnikov sets Olympic record at 10,000m (1960), by Walt Murphy

Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service  ([email protected])

This Day in Track & Field–September  8  

1960-The Soviet Union’s Pyotr Bolotnikov won the 10,000-meters in Rome with an Olympic Record time of 28:32.2. Winning silver and bronze were East Germany’s Hans Grodotzki (28:37.0) and Australia’s Dave Power (28:38.2). Max Truex finished 6th in 28:50.2 to smash Buddy Edelen’s American Record of 29:58.9. Truex’s time was also recognized as an American Record for 6-miles.

        Viktor Tsybulenko gave the Soviets another gold medal, winning the Men’s Javelin with a throw of 277-8(84.64). 2^nd and 3^rd were East Germany’s Walter Krüger (260-4 [79.36]) and Hungary’s Gergely Kulcsár (257-9 [78.57]).

        American Al Cantello, not allowed to compete with the “Held” javelin that he used to set the World Record of 282-3 (86.04), finished a disappointing 10^th (245-1 [74.70]). (The IAAF had imposed the use of Swedish metal “Seefab” javelins or wooden Finnish “Sportartikles” implements).

        “The circumference of the shaft was different, the position of the grip was different, and that made the center of gravity different,” Cantello said. “As a result, the ‘moment’ was different, the microsecond that the throw starts when your left foot hits the ground.”

        Cantello might still have challenged for a medal, but he needed three throws in the previous day’s qualifying round to make the final (throwing 261-6 (79.72), which would have been good enough to finish 2^nd in the final). “The next day, I had no arm”. A coach at the Naval Academy for 55 years (50 as head of the men’s x-country program), Cantello retired in 2018. He passed away in January, 2024, at the age of 92.

        Romania’s Iolanda Balaș, the World Record holder, won the Women’s High Jump with a clearance of  6-3/4 (1.85). There was a tie for 2^nd between Poland’s Jarosława Jóźwiakowska and Great Britain’s Dorothy Shirley, both of whom cleared 5-7  ¼ (1.71)

        Wilma Rudolph put the finishing touch on her memorable Olympics by anchoring the U.S. to victory in the Women’s 4×100 Relay (44.5). Preceding  Rudolph for the U.S. were her Tennessee State Tigerbelle teammates–Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams, and Barbara Jones. The same lineup set a World Record of 44.4 in the qualifying round.  2^nd and 3^rd were Germany…