Been There

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday to two Olympic champions we have honored in the past, so no fair searching. Athlete "A" (the older of the two) and Athlete "B" both won one Olympic gold medal.

Athlete "B" was born on a Monday and won Olympic gold on a Sunday. Athlete "A" was born on a Wednesday and died on a Wednesday. Athlete "A" won Olympic gold on a Thursday.

Celebrating 81 years today, Athlete "B" was born in a city named for a woman who died in 1834. Athlete "A" was 13 when this athlete's father died. Cynthia James (an American) married Athlete "A" the year FDR died. This couple had two girls.

A serious disease did not stop Athlete "B" from setting an Olympic record the year Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president. A Rhodes scholar, Athlete "A" was seventh in the first of two Olympic Games.

The Best Picture of 1960 (Oscar winner) starred an actor who attended Harvard University and shares the same initials as does Athlete "A". He played "Uncle Charley" in "My Three Sons" on television and shares the same initials as Athlete "B".

Having a sister and a brother, Athlete "A" won the first Olympic gold medal in track and field from the country this athlete represented at the Olympic Games.

Third place athlete (bronze medal) in the event in which Athlete "B" won Olympic gold also took sixth place in a different event four years later.

Born 102 years ago today (Thursday), Athlete "A" died at the age of 39 after four years of marriage.

One of our two Olympic gold medalists competed in a field event and the other did not.

She died in "Psycho" and has the same initials as Athlete "A". He played John Adams in "1776" (released in 1972) and shares the same initials as Athlete "B".

Name our two birthday athletes for today. No looking.

[dukehjsteve]

I think I've got B :

It's the 1952 OG's ( year Ike elected) and William Demarest played in My Three Sons
That leads us to WD for Walt Davis who won the HJ with an OR.

Edit about 20 minutes to add:

Hey I think I've got A too. It's got to be 1936 OG due to age involved, and it can't be a USA'er, and it's got to be a runner, so that narrows it down considerably. One logical answer then is Jack Lovelock who won the 1500... I doubt a NZ'er had previously won. If I could remember the lady who got killed in the shower at the Bates Motel I could nail it for sure but for the life of me I cannot come up with her name. So I'll say Jack Lovelock.

[mcgato]

If I could remember the lady who got killed in the shower at the Bates Motel I could nail it for sure but for the life of me I cannot come up with her name.

That would be Jamie Lee Curtis's mom, Janet Leigh.

[dukehjsteve]

If I could remember the lady who got killed in the shower at the Bates Motel I could nail it for sure but for the life of me I cannot come up with her name.

That would be Jamie Lee Curtis's mom, Janet Leigh.

Thanks ! That seals it !

[DoubleRBar]

You did it again, dukehjsteve. Happy birthday today to Walter "Buddy" Davis and to Jack Lovelock. Yes, Davis won the 1952 high jump (Olympic record) and went on to a very good professional basketball career. Davis was a Bulldog at Nederland High School and later jumped at Texas A&M.

Jack Lovelock, of course, won the 1936 1,500 in a world record time of 3:47.8. Jack beat Glenn Cunningham (3:48.4) and Luigi Beccali (3:49.2). Beccali was the defending Olympic champion from Los Angeles. Lovelock's time was the first time the 1,500 record had been broken officially in the Olympic Games. By the way, Lovelock won the gold medal on Cordner Nelson's 18th birthday.

Nice job, dukehjsteve.

[Pego]

Most impressive, Steve. Wow, I say.

[tandfman]

Born 102 years ago today (Thursday), Athlete "A" died at the age of 39 after four years of marriage.

You make it sound as if it was the four years of marriage that killed him. Heck, most of us have survived more than that.

[gennady]

He died of dizziness attacks. Standing in the metro station, head spin and fell under a train.

[DoubleRBar]

Was his wife with him at the time?

[gennady]

Was his wife with him at the time?

I don't remember. In the second half of the '60s, after the success of New Zealand middle distance runner, in Russia, was published a small book about them. Naturally there was a chapter devoted to Jack Lovelock, and it described his tragic death.