Week in Review: Superstar in the making?
Myers' world U20 record in indoor mile leads to comparison with all-time great Elliott
Australians Herb Elliott and Cameron Myers were born nearly 70 years apart.
But I have often found myself thinking about the former while observing the latter’s development during the past three-plus years.
Elliott, 86, is always in the conversation whenever there is a discussion about the greatest 1,500-meter/miler runners of all time.
Myers, 18, set a world U18 record of 3:33.26 in the men’s 1,500 in July of 2023 and he added the world U20 record in the indoor mile to his list of accomplishments last Saturday when he clocked a winning time of 3:53.12 in the Dr. Sander Scorcher meet at the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory in New York City.
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Although both of those clockings are quicker that Elliott ever ran during his brilliant, but short career in which he was undefeated in the 1,500 meters and mile at the world-class level, they cannot diminish what he accomplished six-plus decades ago.
While Elliott might be best known for his runaway victory in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome when he lowered his own world record in the 1,500 meters to 3:35.6 while finishing s whopping 2.8 seconds ahead of silver medalist Michel Jazy of France, his greatest season occurred in 1958 when he was 20.
Training under the guidance of renown coach Percy Cerutty, Elliott set world records of 3:54.5 in the mile and 3:36.0 in the 1,500 in August of that year.
The time in the mile slashed 2.7 seconds off the world record of 3:57.2 that had been set by Derek Ibbotson of Great Britain in 1957 and it came in the first race in history in which five men ran under four minutes in the event.
The clocking in the 1,500 took 2.1 seconds off the previous best of 3:38.1 set by Stanislav Jungwirth of Czechoslovakia the previous year.
His performance in the mile in Dublin was so impressive that compatriot Merv Lincoln, who finished second in 3:55.9, joked about taking up tennis with Ireland’s Ron Delaney, the 1956 Olympic champion in the 1,500 who placed third in 3:57.5.
According to an excerpt from the book The Milers, Delany became violently ill after the race due to the effort he had put forth. But after recovering he quipped that “There is only one way to beat Elliott. That is to tie his legs together.”
While Elliott’s world records were the highlights of his European tour that summer, they were also part of a superb season-ending 31-day stretch during which he ran the first-, second-, and 10th-fastest miles in history, the two fastest 1500s, the third-quickest half mile at 1:47.3, and the fourth-fastest two mile at 8:37.6.
While it would be unheard of for any of today’s top 1,500-meter/mile runners to race as often as Elliott did back then, Myers’ talent has plenty of fans in Australia and abroad eagerly anticipating what the future might hold for him.
In last Saturday’s race, Myers was in fourth place after the first 209 meters of the race before he came through 409 meters in 58.43 seconds while running in second place behind pacesetter Alex Amankwah of Ghana, who had clocked a robust 56.78 at that juncture.
Amankwah was still in the lead when he passed 809 meters in 1:56.69, but Myers was close behind at 1:56.87 and he took the lead about 50 meters later after Amankwah dropped out.
With defending champion Adam Fogg of Great Britain running close behind him, Myers clocked 29.32 for his fifth complete lap around the 200-meter oval before running 29.59 for his sixth loop and a split of 2:55.78 for 1,209 meters.
Looking smooth and under control in the first indoor race of his career, Myers ran his seventh full lap in 29.16 before producing a closing split of 28.18 that capped a final 400 in 57.34 and a time that took nearly two seconds off the previous world indoor U20 record of 3:55.02 that was set by German Fernandez of the U.S. while he was a freshman at Oklahoma State University in 2009.
Festus Langat of Kenya closed quickly over the last lap to finish second — behind Myers — in 3:53.45, with Fogg third in 3:53.49, Amon Kemboi of Kenya fourth in 3:54.96, and Eric Holt of the U.S. fifth in 3:55.38.
While the fans in the arena and the broadcasters announcing the race were understandably excited about Myers’ performance, the young Aussie was more measured in his analysis.
“It’s good to come out here and get it,” he said about breaking the U20 record in a nine.com.au post, “but the goal was to run a bit faster so in reality I’m not too happy with that.”
He then added that “I’ve got to get out a bit harder.”
Some of Myers’ reservations might have been due to the fact that he ran 3:50.15 in the mile in May of last year while finishing 11th in the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene Oregon.
In addition, a time of 3:50.00 or faster in the mile would have counted as meeting the qualifying standard for the 1,500 meters for this year’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo from Sept. 13-21.
Nonetheless, Myers’ victory qualified him for the Wanamaker Mile in the Millrose Games that will be held at the Nike Track & Field Center on Feb. 8.
With Josh Kerr of Great Britain and Yared Nuguse of the U.S., the silver and bronze medalists in the 1,500 in the Olympic Games in Paris last August, in that race, one would think that the world indoor record of 3:47.01 held by Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha could be in jeopardy.
And with his first indoor race under his belt, Myers spoke as though a sub-3:50 clocking could very well be in the cards for him.
“It was different for sure,” he said when asked about competing indoors. “The first couple of laps, I was just getting used to it. So I think I’ll be ready in two weeks time.”
Similar race: Like Cameron Myers of Australia in the men’s mile pro-elite race of the Dr. Sander Scorcher, Katelyn Tuohy of the U.S. won the women’s event after taking the lead shortly after the halfway point and never letting anyone overtake her.
Tuohy, who won a combined four NCAA titles while she was at North Carolina State, clocked 4:25.54 in the mile while repelling the charge of the University of Oregon’s Wilma Nielsen, who placed second in 4:25.89.
Sam Bush placed third in 4:30.42, followed by fellow Americans Laurie Barton, who finished fourth in 4:30.60, and Elly Henes, fifth in 4:31.15.
Tuohy’s time was the second-fastest of her career, while Nielsen’s personal best moved her to second on the all-time Swedish performer list and to third on the all-time collegiate list behind Tuohy, who ran 4:24.26 in 2023, and Maia Ramsden of Harvard and New Zealand, who clocked 4:24.83 last year.
After Rachel Gering brought the field through 409 meters in 66.83 and 609 meters in 1:41.03, fellow pacesetter Brook Feldmeier clocked 2:13.73 for 809 meters before dropping out of the race.
Tuohy then came through the 1,209-meter mark in 3:19.76 after running the previous two laps in 65.85.
She then ran her seventh full 200-meter lap in 32.72 seconds and her eighth in 33.06 to cap a final 400 of 65.78.
Solid outing: Cole Hocker of the U.S., the Olympic champion in the men’s 1,500 meters, defeated training partner Cooper Teare when he ran 2:18.22 while winning the one-kilometer race in the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Virginia, last Saturday.
The 23-year-old Hocker clocked 27.24 and 57.34 for the first two laps of the race while following Virginia Tech junior Matt Pueschner. But he took the lead after Pueschner dropped out and proceeded to clock 1:22.90 at 600 meters and 1:50.79 at 800 before running the final lap in 27.43.
Teare, a former teammate of Hocker’s at the University of Oregon, finished second in 2:18.78, followed by Virginia Tech sophomore George Couttie in 2:20.01.
Eight days prior to the Hokie Invitational, Hocker and Teare had run 6:14.69 and 6:14.92, respectively, for the first 2,400 meters of a 3,000 in the Virginia Tech Invitational on the same Rector Fieldhouse track before dropping out of the race.
Hocker had come through the first 1,600 in 4:11.74 in that race before running the next 800 in 2:02.95.
Couttie won that contest in 7:52.29 after coming through 2,400 meters in 6:18.59.
Hocker is scheduled to run the 3,000 in the Millrose Games at the Nike Track & Field Center at the Armory in New York City on Feb. 8.
Lyles and Thompson win: Noah Lyles of the U.S. and Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, the gold and silver medalists in the men’s 100 meters in the Olympic Games, each won their first finals of the indoor season in the 60 when they clocked 6.62 seconds and 6.56, respectively, in a pair of meets that were held roughly 4,500 miles (7,300 kilometers) apart from one another last Saturday.
Lyles’ 6.62 clocking came in the RADD College Invitational and Multi-Event meet in Gainesville, Florida, in a race in which Caleb Dean of the U.S. placed second in 6.68 and Udodi Onwuzurike of Nigeria finished third in 6.70.
The 27-year-old Lyles, who had run a personal best of 9.79 in winning the Olympic 100-meter title by five thousandths of a second over Thompson, also ran 6.62 in his qualifying heat in the RADD meet.
The 23-year-old Thompson’s 6.56 effort came in a meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, after he had run 6.58 in a qualifying heat.
Thompson got off to a sluggish start in the final before his 6.56 clocking left him solidly ahead of Ali Anwar Al-Balushi of Oman, who finished second in 6.60, and Shuhei Tada of Japan, who placed third in 6.62.
It was the second 60-meter final of the year for Thompson, who had run 6.48 while running into a breeze of 2.1 meters-per-second in an outdoor meet in Spanish Town, Jamaica, a week earlier.
World youth record: Marta Alemayo of Ethiopia crushed the world U18 record in the women’s 3,000 meters when she ran 8:39.80 in winning that event in the indoor meet in the Kazakhstani capital of Astana last Saturday.
The 16-year-old Alemayo posted her record-breaking effort after out-dueling compatriots Shito Gumi, 17, and Axumawit Embaye, 30, who finished second and third in personal bests of 8:40.00 and 8:41.06, respectively.
Alemayo’s effort bested the previous U18 record of 8:46.01 that had been set by fellow Ethiopian Gotytom Gebreslase in 2012.
Gebreslase won the marathon in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022, and was the silver medalist in the ’23 meet in Budapest, Hungary.
Depth galore: The performances of Alemayo, Gumi, and Embaye added to the immense depth that Ethiopia has displayed in the women’s indoor 3,000 meters over the years.
The country has now had 31 women run under 8:42 in the 3,000 indoors.
The nations with the next-highest totals in that regard are the U.S., with 26 sub-8:42 performers, and Kenya, with 11.
Good opener: Christopher Morales Williams of Canada, who won titles in the men’s 400 meters in both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships last year as a sophomore at the University of Georgia, clocked 45.27 seconds in winning the Olympic development race of the Texas A&M Ted Nelson Invitational last Friday.
Morales Williams, who signed a professional contract last summer, had a solid margin of victory over American Jevon O’Bryant, who ran 45.80.
Elijah Godwin, a member of the U.S. team that won the 4 x 400 relay in the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, placed third in 46.19.
Morales Williams, 20, had run 44.49 indoors and 44.05 outdoors as a collegian last year, but he struggled after the NCAA championships in June, never running faster than 44.90 during the remainder of the season. His last race had come in the third semifinal of the Olympic Games in Paris when he ran 45.25 while finishing eighth.
Big improvement: Senior Trey Knight of Cal State Northridge moved to third on the all-time collegiate list in men’s 35-pound weight throw when he won the event with a best of 24.87 meters (81 feet 7¼ inches) in the Nevada Invitational and Multis meet last Friday.
Knight unleashed his top throw in the third round after throwing 23.47 (77-0) in the first round and 23.00 (75-5½) in the second. He also had efforts of 24.05 (78-11) on his fourth attempt and 23.42 (76-10) on his fifth before fouling on his sixth.
Knight’s previous best of 24.14 (79-2½) had come last year when he placed second in the NCAA indoor championships.
Quick Trojans: USC displayed impressive depth in the men’s 60- and 200-meter sprints in the Texas Tech Red Raider Invitational in Lubbock, Texas, last Friday.
Junior JC Stevenson won the 60 in 6.50 seconds for USC while finishing ahead of second-place Jaylen Washington of North Texas, who ran 6.55, and third-place Antoine Andrews of Texas Tech, who timed 6.58.
USC senior Taylor Banks finished fourth in 6.59 and sophomore teammate Eddie Nketia placed fifth in 6.61 for the Trojans.
USC junior Max Thomas had the fastest time of the meet in the 200 when he clocked 20.53 in the second section of that event while finishing well ahead of second-place Judson Lincoln IV of Virginia Tech, who ran 20.70. USC senior Johnnie Blockburger had the third-fastest time of the meet, as he won the first section in 20.71.
Stevenson’s 6.50 clocking in the 60 was the fastest collegiate time in the U.S. this year and Thomas’ 20.53 effort in the 200 was the second fastest in that event. Thomas has also run 6.53 in the 60, which puts him in a tie for third with Wanya McCoy of Florida on the yearly collegiate list in that event.
Another USC victory: Junior William Jones of USC moved to third on the all-time collegiate list in the men’s 600-yard run when he ran 1:07.52 to win the first section of the event in the Texas Tech Red Raider Invitational last Friday.
Jones’ performance left him well in front of Texas Tech teammates Oskar Edlund and Charlie Bartholomew, who placed second and third with identical times of 1:08.93.
Freshman Samuel Toili of Oklahoma ran 1:08.47 while winning the second section of the 600.
Jones’ 1:07.52 clocking came six days after Jenoah McKiver of Florida had set a world best of 1:05.75 in the 600 in the Texas Tech Corky Classic while competing on the same track.
In addition to his win in the 600, Jones also ran a 45.83-second first leg on a USC team that ran 3:04.00 in the 4 x 400 relay while finishing a hundredth of a second behind first-place Virginia Tech, which ran 3:03.99.
The Hokies trailed USC at the final exchange, but Judson Lincoln IV ran a 44.84-second anchor leg while overtaking the Trojans’ Johnnie Blockburger, who ran 45.23 on his carry.
Split breakdown: I found it interesting to compare the intermediate times for Jones and McKiver during their 600-yard performances.
Jones clocked 41.17 seconds for the first 349 meters of the race before running his final 200 in 26.35.
McKiver clocked 41.30 for the first 349 before covering his last 200 in 24.45.
Another quick 300: A depth-laden indoor season in the men’s 300 meters got even deeper in the Orange & Purple Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina, last Saturday when junior Donald Chiyangwa of the University of Alabama and Zimbabwe ran a winning 32.38 seconds while finishing well ahead of Tennessee junior Andrew Brown, who clocked 33.22 in second place.
Chiyangwa’s time moved him to fifth on the all-time collegiate performer list and is the third-fastest time of this year’s indoor season behind Texas A&M senior Auhmad Robinson, who has run 32.34, and Virginia Tech junior Judson Lincoln IV, who has clocked 32.37.
It was also a Zimbabwean record and narrowly missed the African continental best of 32.36 set by Frankie Fredericks of Namibia in 2003.
Chiyangwa placed eighth in the 400 in last year’s African Athletics Championships in Douala, Cameroon, and set his personal best of 45.47 in the event while winning a final of the Texas Tech Corky/Crofoot Shootout in April of last year.
Two liners: Monae Nichols, the silver medalist in the women’s long jump in last year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, notched her second victory of the undercover season when she leaped 6.46 meters (21 feet 2½ inches) to edge fellow American Tyra Gittens (6.45/21-2) by a centimeter in the Dr. Sander Scorcher meet at the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory in New York City last Saturday. Nichols previously won the Texas Tech Corky Classic with a leap of 6.67 (21-10¾) on Jan. 17. . . . . Senior Abdullahi Hassan of Mississippi State University and Canada moved to sixth on the all-time collegiate performer list in the men’s indoor 800 meters when he ran 1:45.53 to win the event in the Orange & Purple Invitational at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex last Saturday. Hassan’s time lowered the school record of 1:45.90 that had been set by fellow Canadian Marco Arop at the same facility in 2019. . . . . Junior Aaliyah Butler of the University of Georgia, who had run a personal best of 49.71 in the women’s 400 meters while finishing third in last year’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials, ran 51.71 to win that event in the Texas A&M Ted Nelson Invitational last Saturday. It was the first meet of the indoor season for Butler, whose last previous race had come in the Olympic Games in Paris, when she had run a 50.41-second third leg on a U.S. 4 x 400 relay team that won its qualifying heat in 3:21.44. . . . Chase Jackson of the U.S., the gold medalist in the women’s shot put in the 2022 and ’23 World Athletics Championships, won that event with a best of 19.13 (62-9¼) in an indoor meet in Astana, Kazakhstan, last Saturday. Jackson finished more than two and a half feet ahead of second-place Fanny Roos of Sweden, who had a best of 18.32 (60-1¼).
Repeat champion: Worknesh Edesa of Ethiopia won her second consecutive title in the Osaka Women’s Marathon in Japan on Sunday after taking control of the race around the 28-kilometer mark.
The 32-year-old Edesa timed 2:21:00 while posting her third victory in her last four marathons and her fourth win in her last six races at the distance. She had set a personal best and course record of 2:18:51 n last year’s race, but later said that breezy conditions had prevented her from approaching that time this year.
Kana Kobayashi of Japan finished second in 2:21:19 and compatriot Yuka Suzuki also recorded a personal best with her 2:21:33 clocking in third place.
Edesa was part of a seven-runner lead pack that came through 10 kilometers in 33:23, and she, along with Kobayashi, Suzuki, and Japan’s Nanaka Izawa were part of a front quartet that came through 15 kilometers in 50:02 or 50:03.
That foursome came through 20 kilometers in 1:06:32 and Edesa was just in front of the Japanese trio when she passed the halfway mark in 1:10:12.
Kobayashi was in fourth place, 10 seconds off the lead, when Edesa led the front trio through 25 kilometers in 1:22:53.
Izawa soon fell back of Edesa and Suzuki, and Edesa opened a gap over Suzuki around 28 kilometers while on her way to a split of 1:39:18 for 30 kilometers.
She had a 13-second lead over second-place Suzuki at that point in the race, with Kobayashi another 35 seconds back. Izawa was six seconds behind Kobayashi in fourth place, but she was beginning to fade dramatically and would finish eighth in 2:29:28.
Although Edesa’s split of 34:07 from 30 to 40 kilometers was her slowest 10k segment of the race, she was never seriously challenged for the victory and had a 19-second lead over Suzuki when she passed the 40k mark in 2:13:25.
Behind the front three, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel finished fourth in 2:24:03 and Natsumi Matsushita of Japan placed fifth in 2:26:04.
“I am happy to defend the title from 2024," Edesa said in a World Athletics post. “It was a good race, but the wind prevented me from running a faster time. I want to win the World Championships in Tokyo [in September]. I also want to run in Osaka next year, this time with faster time.”
Initial victories: Rogers Kibet of Uganda was victorious in his first cross country race of the season and Sheila Jebet of Kenya won her first race after three consecutive runner-up finishes in the Cross Cup de Hannut in Hannut, Belgium, on Sunday.
The event was the 15th of 17 gold level meets on the World Athletics Cross Country Tour for the 2024-25 season.
The 21-year-old Kibet clocked 27:03 over a muddy nine-kilometer course while finishing well clear of second-place Celestin Ndikumana of Burundi, who ran 27:23.
Gideon Rono of Kenya finished third in 27:29, followed by Robin Hendrix of Belgium in 27:41.
Kibet, who was competing for the first time since he clocked 27:36.13 while finishing 10th in a 10,000-meter track race in Hachioji, Japan, on Nov. 23, was among the lead group as the field completed the first of six loops. But he began to string things out during the second lap and then broke away from everyone, including Ndikumana and Rono, on the third loop.
Jebet, 19, won the women’s race in 31:01 after breaking away from Yenenesh Shimket of Ethiopia on the fifth of six loops.
Shimket placed second in 31:07, followed by Charity Cherop of Uganda in 31:22 and Chloe Herbiet of Belgium in 31:38.
Jebet had placed fourth in the U20 race of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in March of last year before finishing fifth in the 5,000 in the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, in August.
Looking forward: Benson Kipruto of Kenya, the most consistent marathon runner in the world for the previous four seasons, will attempt to win his second consecutive men’s title when the Tokyo Marathon is held on March 2.
Kipruto, who ran a personal best of 2:02:16 while winning last year’s race, headed the list of men’s entries announced by the Tokyo Marathon last week.
The 33-year-old Kipruto, who ranks sixth on the all-time performer list, was the top-ranked marathon runner in the world for 2024 by Track & Field News as he finished third in the Olympic Games in Paris five months after his victory in Tokyo.
In his eight marathons from 2021-24, he has won four times, placed second once, and third three times.
Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia, who finished fifth in the Olympics, is the other sub-2:03 performer in the field as he ran 2:02:38 in finishing second in the Valencia Marathon in Spain in 2023.
Kenya Vincent Ngetich and Ethiopians Tadese Takele and Dawit Wolde are some of the other top entrants.
Ngetich placed third in Tokyo last year and set his personal best of 2:03:13 while finishing second in the Berlin Marathon in 2023.
Takele placed seventh in the Berlin Marathon last September and ran his personal best of 2:03:24 when he finished third in the Berlin Marathon in 2023.
Wolde will be attempting a quick turnaround after winning the Xiamen Marathon in China in 2:06:06 on Jan. 5. He set his personal best of 2:03:48 in finishing third in Valencia in 2023.
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda could be one of the most watched runners in the race as he won the Olympic title in the 10,000 in Paris and is the three-time defending World champion in that event. He also holds the world record in the 5,000 at 12:35.36 and in the 10,000 at 26:11.00.
He struggled in his marathon debut in Valencia in 2023, when he literally staggered across the finish line while placing 37th in 2:08:59. But big things are expected of him now that his training is focused on the marathon, not the 10,000.
Looking forward II: Ethiopians Sutume Kebede and Tigist Ketema and Kenyan Brigid Kosgei of Kenya top the list of women’s entrants in this year’s Tokyo Marathon that will be held on March 2.
Kebede, 30, moved to eighth on the all-time performer list when she ran 2:15:55 in winning the Tokyo Marathon last year and she clocked 2:17:32 to finish second in the Chicago Marathon last October.
Ketema, 26, ran a personal best of 2:16:07 in winning the Dubai Marathon in the United Arab Emirates in January of last year before winning the Berlin Marathon in 2:16:42 in September.
Kosgei, 30, set a then-world record of 2:14:04 in winning the Chicago Marathon in 2019, but the 2021 Olympic silver medalist and 2022 Tokyo champion placed fifth in 2:19:02 in London last April in her only marathon of the year.
Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru and Ethiopians Hawi Feysa, Degitu Azimeraw, and Gotytom Gebreslase are some of the other top entrants.
Wanjiru lowered her personal best to 2:16:14 while finishing second in Tokyo last year and she won the women’s race in 2:16:28 in 2023.
Feysa ran a personal best of 2:17:25 in winning the Frankfurt Marathon in Germany last October.
Azimeraw ran her personal best of 2:17:58 while finishing second in the London Marathon in 2021 and she ran 2:20:52 while finishing sixth in Chicago last year.
Gebreslase set her personal best of 2:18:11 in winning the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022 and she was the silver medalist in the global title meet in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023. However, she finished third in both the Sydney Marathon last September and in the Hamburg Marathon in Germany in April with times of 2:24:17 and 2:21:19, respectively.
In memory: Fred Newhouse of the U.S., the silver medalist in the men’s 400 meters in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, died on Jan. 20. He was 76.
Newhouse, a graduate of Prairie View A&M University, ran a personal best of 44.40 seconds in the Olympics while finishing second to Alberto Juantorena of Cuba, who clocked 44.26 while becoming the first athlete in history to win the 400 and 800 in the same Olympiad.
Newhouse had run a hand-timed personal best of 44.2 in winning the 400 in a semifinal of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, but he finished seventh in the final in 45.4 after going out very quickly for the first 200 meters.
He finished second to Maxie Parks in the 1976 Olympic Trials, but he came very close to winning the Olympic final before being passed by Juantorena in the last 20 meters of the race.
According to the 1976 Olympic issue of Track & Field News, Newhouse was three meters ahead of Juantorena when he came through the first 200 meters in 21.5 seconds. But his lead was down to two meters over the Cuban when he clocked 32.1 at the 300-meter mark.
Juantorena’s winning time of 44.26 was the fifth-fastest in history at that time, with Newhouse’s 44.40 clocking at No. 6.
“I gave it all I had,” Newhouse said in Track & Field News. “I didn’t think anyone was near me coming off the curve. I was thinking to myself, ‘Hey, I got the gold medal.’ Then, with about 20 meters left, I realized he was right there with me. I guess I was a little more tired than he was.”
In addition to his silver-medal performance in the 400 in Montreal, Newhouse won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team that won the 4 x 400 relay in 2:58.7 to finish nearly three seconds ahead of a Polish squad that placed second in 3:01.4.
Newhouse helped to blow open the final when he ran 43.8 seconds on his third leg and he had also run 43.6 on his third leg in a qualifying heat.
He was ranked among the top 10 quarter-milers in the world by Track & Field News six times during his career, topped by a No. 2 ranking for 1976 and a No. 3 ranking for 1971.
Following his competitive days, Newhouse was involved with track and field for decades as a coach, administrator, and official.
You can click here for a USA Track & Field obituary about Newhouse.
In memory II: Dr. Greg Bell, the 1956 Olympic champion in the men’s long jump, died last Saturday in Logansport, Indiana. He was 94.
Bell, who had been the oldest living Olympic champion in track and field, set an Olympic record of 7.83 meters (25-8¼ inches) in winning the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia, and leading the U.S. to a 1-2 finish in the long jump.
Although he never set a world record in that event, his best mark of 8.10 (26-7), which he accomplished in both 1957 and 1959, was only three centimeters off the global best of 8.13 (26-8¼) that American Jesse Owens had set in 1935.
Bell also jumped 8.09 (26-6½) in 1956 and he was ranked among the top 10 long jumpers in the world by Track & Field News every year from 1955-60.
He was the top-ranked competitor in the world in 1956, ’57 and ’59, and he was No. 2 in the rankings in 1955 and ’58. He retired from competition in 1960 after finishing fourth in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
The winner of that meet was Ralph Boston, who would go on to be the top-ranked long jumper in the world every year from 1960-67.
According to an obituary on pharostribune.com, Bell had never competed in track and field until he was a student at Garfield High School in Terre Haute. He was initially interested in taking up the pole vault as he was a fan of the Tarzan movies, but a strained back muscle led him to try the long jump and he eventually finished second in that event in the Indiana state high school championships in 1948.
After being drafted in the Army in 1950 to fight in the Korean War, he ended up serving in Europe and eventually won the long jump in the All-Army championships with a distance that “was something like three feet further than I did in high school.”
He added in a 2021 interview that “apparently the latent ability was there, it was just slow in developing.”
He worked in a factory after returning home, but a doctor named William Bannon, who met Bell while treating him for tonsillitis, strongly encouraged him to attend college after learning of his talent in the long jump.
He eventually enrolled at Indiana University, won a pair of NCAA titles while he was there and earned an undergraduate degree.
He later became the director of dentistry at Logansport State Hospital and served in that position for 50 years before he retired in 2020 at the age of 89.
You can click here for a USA Track & Field obituary about Bell.