Oly Champs vs WR-holders.

[gennady]

Today is April 1st birthday of two Olympic champions. Their total age of 109. Senior older junior is more than twice.
Junior Age less than one third of the total age. Each of them competed at two Olympics. Both competed in individual events.
One of them has won two consecutive Olympic Games. Another, won the first Olympic Games and competed in the final second.
About one of them today we can say that in order to win, he had to beat three world record holders in one Olympics.
Another had to beat only one world record holder at one Olympics.
Call names of these athletes.

[DoubleRBar]

Not many have won two consecutive Olympic gold medals. I need more help. Are both these athletes field eventers? Doing the math, I figure one person must be around 70 to 80 years old. The younger athlete is probably still competing today. Am I close?

[gennady]

Yes, they are field eventers, and you have correctly identified their age.
It remains to determine the range of the Olympic Games for both.

[DoubleRBar]

A recent athlete with two consecutive Olympic gold medals is Andreas Thorkildsen. I believe he is around 29 or 30 years old. The senior athlete is a little tougher to get, but I have narrowed it down to a few. Is he a thrower?

[gennady]

Good job DoubleRBar, you guessed him.
It'is really Andreas Thorkildsen - Olympic Champion 2004/2008, who
beat the current world record holders - Jan Zelezny in 2004.
Now we can tell him a Happy birthday Andreas Thorkildsen!

Senior is not trower.

[gennady]

I do not quite understand the meaning of the first question, about the field events.
If you have tried to enumerate all the possible two-time winners of 2000-2008, there is no fields two times winners. There were three possible candidates:
2004 Andreas Thorkildsen
2008 Andreas Thorkildsen
2004 Yelena Isinbayeva
2008 Yelena Isinbayeva
2004 Francoise Mbango
2008 Francoise Mbango
But the both women competed in three Olympics.

[gennady]

Until tomorrow, I went to bed.

[DoubleRBar]

The senior athlete must be about 78 to 79 years old. He or she must have won gold in the Melbourne, Rome, or Tokyo Games. Must be a jumper. Your clue about having to defeat three world record holders has me stumped. I immediately thought of John Thomas and Charlie Dumas in Rome, but I can't come up with a third world record holder (Valeriy Brumel did not set an outdoor world record until 1961). There were no official indoor world records in 1960. Is it Robert Shavlakadze? He's the only one I can think of now and he did jump in Tokyo.

[gennady]

Good job DoubleRBar, you guessed him.
A few words about Senior. Returning to the question. The key to the answer is: ... About one of them today we can say ... ".
Yes indeed it Robert Shavlakadze, who won in Rome in 1960 with result 2.16
I think it is really two cases in which the final by three record holders, who failed to win.
1 Robert Shavlakadze - Olympic winner 1960 and 5th in 1964.
2 Valeriy Brumel - Future world record holder
3 John Thomas - Currently world record holder
4 Viktor Bolshov
5 Stig Pettersson
6 Charles Dumas - Previous world record holder

Now we can tell him a Happy birthday Robert Shavlakadze!

PS - The remarkable fact of these competitions.
The Olympic record was repeated and improved nine times.

[DoubleRBar]

Very good, gennady. I should have caught that part of the clue. The high jump has always been one of my favorite events and I remember the Rome high jump very well. I still remember how disappointed I was that John Thomas didn't win it.

[gennady]

Very good, gennady. I should have caught that part of the clue. The high jump has always been one of my favorite events and I remember the Rome high jump very well. I still remember how disappointed I was that John Thomas didn't win it.

What is your the most favorite event?
My is LJ.

[gennady]

A few words about John Thomas.
In 1960 he set five WR, from 2.17 to 2.22.
In winter 1959, six WR from a 2.11 to 2.165.
In winter 1960, four WR from a 2.17 to 2.195.
A total of 15 WR during two years, this is a record figure for the high-jump.

[Per Andersen]

A few words about John Thomas.
In 1960 he set five WR, from 2.17 to 2.22.
In winter 1959, six WR from a 2.11 to 2.165.
In winter 1960, four WR from a 2.17 to 2.195.
A total of 15 WR during two years, this is a record figure for the high-jump.

And he could have had more if not for the elevator accident in the spring of 1959 that cost him the outdoor season.

But in the whole history of the sport I can't think of a great champion who was so quickly and so thoroughly dethroned.

[bambam]

Good job DoubleRBar, you guessed him.
A few words about Senior. Returning to the question. The key to the answer is: ... About one of them today we can say ... ".
Yes indeed it Robert Shavlakadze, who won in Rome in 1960 with result 2.16
I think it is really two cases in which the final by three record holders, who failed to win.
1 Robert Shavlakadze - Olympic winner 1960 and 5th in 1964.
2 Valeriy Brumel - Future world record holder
3 John Thomas - Currently world record holder
4 Viktor Bolshov
5 Stig Pettersson
6 Charles Dumas - Previous world record holder

Now we can tell him a Happy birthday Robert Shavlakadze!

PS - The remarkable fact of these competitions.
The Olympic record was repeated and improved nine times.

I think Bolshov was also sort of a world record holder until the elevated shoe rule got him.

[richh1948]

The elevated shoe was only in use in '57 and Bolshov ddn't go higher than 2 metres until 1959, so I think you must be thinking of Styepanov (2.16WR in '57) or Vladimir Sitkin (2.15 '57), though only Stepanov was a WR holder (even if it shouldn't have counted)

[DoubleRBar]

My favorite events are probably the 1,500 and the high jump, although I love all of the track and field events. I started out as a long jumper (because of Ralph Boston), but when I struggled to clear 20' (6.10), I switched to the 800/1,500. I really love the hurdles, too. Track and field is a great sport.

[gennady]

Thank you for your reply.
I started by Igor Ter-Ovanesyan.
My coach has been known long jumper - Valentina Lituyeva.
European Champion 1950 and silver in 1958.

[lonewolf]

The elevated shoe was only in use in '57 and Bolshov ddn't go higher than 2 metres until 1959, so I think you must be thinking of Styepanov (2.16WR in '57) or Vladimir Sitkin (2.15 '57), though only Stepanov was a WR holder (even if it shouldn't have counted)

I am not sure what an "elevated" shoe is but in the 1940s-50s, we used a shoe on the (straddle)take-off foot that had a triangular cross-section build up across the ball of the foot.

[Per Andersen]

I am not sure what an "elevated" shoe is but in the 1940s-50s, we used a shoe on the (straddle)take-off foot that had a triangular cross-section build up across the ball of the foot.

Les Steers experimented with a built-up sole and Ernie Shelton had a similar shoe in Scandinavia in 1954 which Bengt Nilsson copied and improved upon. No idea about thickness on the sole but there were no rules regarding sole thickness in those days.
Stepanov's built-up shoe had about 1 inch sole thickness if I remember correctly.

In 1957 (the year of Stepanov's WR) the Soviets had Stepanov, Sitkin and Igor Kashkarov over 2.14 (7-1/2). They all had huge improvements over the previous year.

[lonewolf]

As I recall, the sole of the shoe was th same thickness as the other shoe but the "rocker" was about the depth of the spikes.. prob 3/4".
I have that shoe in a duffle bag somewhere.. will try to find it...sometimes, I take those heavy old black leather shoes to HS track meets to give the kids a chuckle..

[dukehjsteve]

My memory from the early 60's is that an "elevated" front sole was still legal, subject to a max of 1 cm. When you bought a pair of HJ shoes from Adidas or whomever, you specified which shoe ( left, right) should have the 1 cm. build up. I had a pair of course, but they are now lost in the Sands Of Time.

[Per Andersen]

My memory from the early 60's is that an "elevated" front sole was still legal, subject to a max of 1 cm. When you bought a pair of HJ shoes from Adidas or whomever, you specified which shoe ( left, right) should have the 1 cm. build up. I had a pair of course, but they are now lost in the Sands Of Time.

After the 1957 season they established the legal sole thickness to 13mm, so you were of course OK in the early 60's with your 10mm shoe.

BTW in 1958 Stepanov beat the Americans in the famous first dual meet against the Russians and jumped 2.12 with the 13mm sole shoe. That was his second highest ever.