a little history, a little humor

Around the water jump? … At the1967 AAU Nationals steeplechase one Ray Burris was DQ’d for running around one of the water jumps. He finished fifth for naught! -AAU records, LA 84 Library

A blot or a bolt? … In the midst of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt setting world records in China the Long Beach Press Telegram sports page set its own record with an epic headline mistake above the story covering the Olympic 200 race: Lightning Blot Strikes Again!

Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Olympic Marathon without shoes!!!

26.2 miles barefoot… Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the men’s marathon at the 1960 Rome (Italy) Olympics. Abebe ran the entire race barefoot! He was the first black African to win an Olympic marathon. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he became the first runner to win the marathon twice. This time, he wore shoes (white Pumas).

–“Strange But True Facts About the Olympics”, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Olympic Double Issue, July, 1996

    A beach landing…  Most jumpers who competed in the early 50s remember sawdust landing pits in America. The foam rubber knock-off pits started arriving in the mid-60s. However, at the 1960 Rome Olympics America’s John Thomas, favorite to win the high jump gold medal, was stunned to discover nothing but sand (!) in the Rome stadium’s landing pit. That change and a few other problems caused Thomas to slip down to third and the bronze medal in Rome.

-Rome 1960 by David Maraniss, Simon & Schuster, 2008