Greatest American track & field athlete ever

[Guest]

Ryun held world records not only in the mile and 1,500 meters, but also at 880 yards (a distance that, up until perhaps the mid-70s, used to be contested regularly in the U.S., if not elsewhere).

As many of you are aware, Ryun is now a member of the U.S. House of Reps. He still operates a running camp, the website for which has a summary of his running accomplishments and online videos of a few of his most momentous races (playable if your computer has the necessary media software). The site is at: http://www.ryunrunning.com/

[Guest]

>Owens set more world records in a single
>afternoon than Carl Lewis did in his whole
>career, excluding relays.

If you mean officially-recognized WRs, then you're right. The problem is that in 1936 there were more than twice as many running events as now, with imperial and metric distances.

At the 1935 Big 10 meet, Owens ran 9.4 to tie the 100y WR. He'd already done that many times, as had several other athletes. He set a WR in the 220y at 20.3 (and was credited with the 200m record at the same time). The IAAF did not distinguish between times on a straightaway and around a curve back then; Australia's James Carlton had run 20.5 around a turn, so Owen's mark was slightly inferior. Another record was the 220y hurdles -- run only in the USA, it's hard to call a mark in that event a "World Record". His best mark that day was definitely the LJ -- more on that later.

Lewis competed at a time that all sprint WRs were altitude-aided. Lewis set 3 officially-recognized WRs for the 100. When you include unofficial low-altitude WRs, he set 6 in the 100, one in the 200, and three in the LJ.

Owens' LJ mark stood for 25 years, while Lewis' three low-alt. marks stood for a total of 10. Owens improved on the previous WR by less than 2% while Lewis' three marks improved it by more than 2%. Finally, Lewis also set the indoor WR in the LJ -- and it still stands today.

As far as WRs go, I think Lewis has at least as much to point to as Owens. As far as other accomplishments go, it's not even close.

[Guest]

>Ryun held world records not only in the mile and
>1,500 meters, but also at 880 yards (a distance
>that, up until perhaps the mid-70s, used to be
>contested regularly in the U.S., if not
>elsewhere).

Yes, but . . . he ran 880y in 1:44.9, which is intrinsically equal to the 1:44.3 that Snell ran in 1962. Snell ran his on a 385y grass track, while Ryun ran his on a 440y cinder track. I don't think that an 800m intermediate time was taken for Ryun.

In the early 1970s, Rick Wohlhuter set an 880y WR and got cheated out of an 800m WR because meet management hadn't bothered to put down a line at 800m.

[Guest]

Here's the true test.

As I noted above, Jesse Owens's 1935 LJ would still have been good enough to place him on the U.S. Olympic team in 2000 -- 65 years later.

According to Carl Lewis's athlete bio at http://www.usatf.org , his LJ PR is:

29-1.25/8.87m '91

(presumably from his '91 WC battle with Mike Powell).

So, will a jump of 29-1.25 still be good enough to make the Olympic team in 2056 (1991 + 65) ?

The only way I'm going to know for sure is if I live to 94. We'll know sooner (perhaps within 10 or 20 years) if one or more U.S. jumpers start hitting 29-6 (which would be a pretty strong sign).

[gh]

>Al Oerter's 4 consecutive Olympic golds are
>better than Carl, Jesse, etc, because he was NOT
>the favorite in at least 3 of the 4.>>

Actually, T&FN's international panel of experts had him tabbed to win in both '60 (almost unanimously) and '64 (narrowly, over Danek).