Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–April 14
1946—Italy’s Adolfo Consolini improved his 5-year-old World Record (175-0 [53.34]) in the Discus twice in Milan, first to 176-1 (53.69) and then to 178-2 (54.32).
Consolini, a 3-time European Champion, would have been the favorite had the 1944 Olympics not been canceled due to World War II, but he took advantage of a 2nd chance by winning the gold medal at the 1948 Games in London. He would win Olympic silver four years later in Helsinki. He set his final World Record of 181-6 (55.33) in 1948, after the London Olympics.
He would recite the athletes’ oath when the Olympics came to Rome in 1960.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/71922
Photos: http://www.listal.com/list/adolfo-consolini
1979–Coming off an indoor season that saw him set 7 World Records, it seemed inevitable that Maryland sophomore Renaldo Nehemiah would get the outdoor record, but he surprised even himself when he got it in his first meet, running 13.16 at the Bruce Jenner Classic in San Jose to break Cuban Alejandro Casañas’ previous mark of 13.21.
From Steve McGill’s “Master of the Art Form”:
“I ran 13.16 at the Bruce Jenner meet right after spring break. I didn’t wanna run the race because Dedy Cooper was gonna be there, and I didn’t feel I was ready to run against him. But coach [Frank Costello] said I’d be okay, and I said, I don’t want to run the race. So I don’t know if it was pride, anger, or flying three thousand miles [to California], but I was motivated. I ran 13.16 for the world record, and that had to be off of volume because we hadn’t done any [speed work] yet.”
http://tinyurl.com/Nehemiah1316
McGill hosted a Zoom call with Nehemiah and his high school coach, Jean Poquette, in 2021.
1979—Lorna Griffin threw the Discus 188-4 (57.40) in Seattle to break her own month-old American Record of 187-8 (57.20). Griffin would set a total of nine ARs in the Discus during the 1979 and 1980 seasons, topping out at 207-5 (63.22).
Looking Back(2012): http://spufalcons.com/news/2012/7/18/12_gen_July27.aspx
2001—Future stars were among the winners at the Arcadia (CA) H.S. Inv.:
Allyson Felix (L.A. Baptist/CA-100/11.83, 200/23.48)—See April 13
Shannon Rowbury (Sacred Heart, CA-800/2:08.52…bronze medalist in the 1500 at the 2009 World Championships and
2012 Olympics; former American Record holder at 1500 and 5000 meters
Lashinda Demus (Long Beach Wilson, CA-300 hurdles/40.70)…2011 World Champion-400 hurdles, gold medalist at the
2012 Olympics and a 3-time medalist at the World Championships (silver-2005 & 2009, bronze-2013…former
American Record holder (52.47) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lashinda_Demus
Alan Webb (South Lakes, VA-mile/4:01.81-Outdoor PR/ set the Outdoor Record of 3:53.43 the following
month)…former American Record holder in the Mile—3:46.91
Monique Henderson (Morse,CA-400/52.51)…2-time Olympic gold medalist-4×400 (2004, 2008)
DyeStat Coverage: http://archive.dyestat.com/us/1out/Arcadia/index.htm
2002—Khalid Khannouchi not only broke his own World Record by four seconds with his winning time of 2:05:38 at the London Marathon, but he also turned back two greats in a “race for the ages”, as Paul Tergat was 2nd in 2:05.48 and Haile Gebrselassie, in his first serious effort at the distance, was 3rd in 2:06:35.
Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe won the women’s race, which had a separate start for the first time, in 2:18:56, just nine seconds off Catherine Ndereba’s World Record of 2:18:47.
From Race Results Weekly: “At 22 miles…the race was down to three, and what a three: Gebrselassie, Tergat and world record holder Khannouchi. Along the Thames Embankment, it was Gebrselassie and Khannouchi level with Tergat tucked in between them, one stride behind. Into the last two miles, Khannouchi made a break. Tergat responded, and the unthinkable happened: Gebrselassie was dropped. Soon, Tergat fell back, and everyone started looking at their watches again. He needed to run the last one mile, 385 yards in 5:49, and he managed 5:45 for the fabulous time of 2:05:38”.
Both Khannouchi and Radcliffe earned $255,000 in prize money and bonuses, the largest reported payday in the history of marathon running (at the time).
While he hadn’t competed since 2007 due to a series of injuries, Khannouchi, whose 2:05:38 still holds up as the American Record, didn’t officially retire until 2012.
http://www.marathonguide.com/news/rrw.cfm?AID=766; http://www.letsrun.com/2012/khannouchi-retires-0326.php
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/specials/london_marathon_2002/1929323.stm
T&F News Cover(May): https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2002-05.jpg
2007—Suzy Powell, taking advantage of the favorable wind at the appropriately named Maui Big Wind Discus in Wailuku, Hawaii, set an American Record of 222-0 (67.67/still #5 all-time U.S.). The previous record of 216-10 (66.10) was set by Carol Cady 21 years earlier (1986).
2024—Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna took advantage of excellent throwing conditions at the Ramona Throws Festival in Oklahoma by setting a World Record of 243-11 (74.35) in the Discus. The previous best of 243-0 (74.08), set by East Germany’s Jürgen Schult in 1986, was the oldest men’s record on the books for events recognized by World Athletics for record purposes. He also broke his family record (242-5/73.88), which had been held by his father Virgilijus, one of the legends of the event (2x-Olympic and 2x-World Champion).
The 21-year-old junior at Cal-Berkeley had the greatest series ever in the event, with two additional throws making the all-time top-10 list (at the time)
236-11 72.21; 230-08 70.32; 239-01 72.89; 231-04 70.51; 243-11 74.35 ; 231-03 70.50
One of the first to congratulate Alekna after his big throw was another WR holder, Ryan Crouser, who was on hand as a fan before going fishing!
All-Time Top-10 (at the time) (From T&F News)
243-11 74.35 Mykolas Alekna (Lithuania) 4/14/24
243-00 74.08 Jürgen Schult (East Germany) 6/06/86
242-05 73.88 Virgilijus Alekna (Lithuania) 8/03/00
240-09 73.38 Gerd Kanter (Estonia) 9/04/06
239-01 72.89 ______M.Alekna! 4/14/24
237-04 72.35 ————V.Alekna! 8/03/00
237-02 72.30 ————Kanter ! 9/04/06
236-11 72.21 ______ M.Alekna ! 4/14/24
236-03 72.02 ————Kanter 5/03/07
235-10 71.88 ————Kanter 5/08/08
**10 performances by 4 performers**
235-09 71.86 Yuriy Dumchev (Soviet Union) 5/29/83
235-09 71.86 Daniel Ståhl (Sweden) 6/29/19
235-09 71.86 Kristjan Čeh (Slovenia) 6/16/23
235-08 71.84 Piotr Małachowski (Poland) 6/08/13
235-03 71.70 Róbert Fazekas (Hungary) 7/14/02
234-07 71.50 Lars Riedel (Germany) 5/03/97
Alekna’s WR lasted for one day shy of a full year, as he first threw 245-8 (74.89) in the opening round in 2025 in Ramona, then improved to 247-11 (75.56) with his 4th throw! Those were his only fair throws of the day. Finishing 2nd was Australia’s Matt Denny, who threw 245-4 (74.78), which was farther than Alekna’s WR from last year!
Interview Video (fast forward to 1:32.40): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmXP3Gqnt0c&t=3147s
Born On This Day*
Françoise Mbango-Etone–Cameroon 50 (1976) 2-time Olympic gold medalist—Triple Jump (2004, 2008/2000-10th)
2-time silver medalist at the World Championships (2001,2003)
Silver medalist at the 2003 World Indoor Championships
Lived in NY City during the 2005-2006 academic year while she attended St.John’s University
PB:50-6 (15.39/2008/Olympic Record at the time/#3 All-Time World)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/83443
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Françoise_Mbango_Etone
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/mbango-etone-makes-history-as-she-becomes-fir
Michelle LaFleur 54 (1972) 5-time NCAA Div.III Champion (Cortland)
1991—3000; 1994-1500i, X-Country; 1995-1500i, 5000;
Member of 4 NCAA Div.III X-Country Championships teams (#1 scorer in ’90,’92,’94)
Was coached by Jack Daniels
Inducted into the NCAA Div.III Hall of Fame in 2015.
http://savannahnow.com/sports/2015-06-03/running-right-crowd-savannahs-lafleur-enshrined-ncaa-hall-fame
Allen James 62 (1964) 2-time U.S. Olympian—1992 (20k Walk-30th), 1996 (50k Walk-24th)
4-time U.S. Champion—20k Walk (1992-1995); 3-time U.S. Champion-50k Walk
4-time U.S. Indoor Champion—5k Walk (1993, 1995-1997)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78594
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/allen-james-14241761
Mike Durkin 73 (1953) 2-time U.S. Olympian—1500m (1976-1st round, 1980-boycott)
Since he hadn’t run much after graduating from Illinois in 1975, he surprised even himself by making the 1976
Olympic team. “After training for only 12 or 14 weeks I was stunned,” recalled Durkin. “I had all along just
expected to go to the Trials. I was somewhat surprised, to put it mildly.”
All-American at Illinois—2nd to Tony Waldrop in the mile at the 1974 NCAA Indoor Championships
Won the 800 and Steeplechase(!) at the 1975 Big-10 Championships
Along with former rival Ken Popejoy, coached 3-time Olympian Jim Spivey for 10 years
PBs: 1:47.68 (’80), 3:36.72 (’76), 3:56.7 (’75), 8:52.2sc (’75)
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78354
(2005 Article): http://www.forestparkreview.com/News/Articles/11-29-2005/Track-star/
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=1156025
Deceased
Valery Brumel 60 (1942-Jan.26, 2003) 1964 Olympic gold medalist—High Jump(Silver-1960)
Set 6 World Records Outdoors, 2 Indoors
Outdoor Records:
7-03 ½ 2.23 Moscow June 18, 1961
7-04 ¼ 2.24 Moscow July 16, 1961
7-04 ½ 2.25 Sofia August 31, 1961
7-05 2.26 Stanford July 22, 1962
7-05 ¼ 2.27 Moscow September 29, 1962
7-05 ¾ 2.28 Moscow July 21, 1963
Career was interrupted after suffering a serious leg injury in a motorcycle accident—eventually returned to
competition, but never regained top form.
Dominated his rivalry with his good friend, American John Thomas
Turned to acting and writing once his jumping career was over.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77392
Tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r0hdHV95sU
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/high-jump-legend-brumel-dies-after-long-illne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeriy_Brumel
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_high_jump_world_record_progression
Uwe Beyer—Germany 49 (1945-April 15, 1993) 1964 Olympic bronze medalist—Hammer Throw (1968-Qual.,
1972-4th)
Died a day after his 48th birthday, possibly as a result of his admitted doping abuse during his career.
1971 European Champion
PB: 245-9(74.90/1971)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70155
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uwe_Beyer
Walter Pritchard 72 (1910-Aug.31, 1982) 1932 U.S. Olympian—Steeplechase (8th)
All-American at Hamilton College—5th in the Mile at the 1931 NCAA Championships…field at Hamilton bears his
name
Became a cardiologist–was credited with performing the first defibrillation to restore a patient’s heartbeat.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78919
