Vol. 2 No. 92 The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

  

July 21-21, 1962  The Russians Are Here Okay, class, here is the question for the day. Not counting Olympic competition, what is the largest attendance for a single track meet in the United States? If you said the USSR – USA dual meet in Palo Alto July 21 and 22, 1962, go to the head of the class. Saturday's competition at Stanford Stadium drew 72,000 spectators and the following day 81,000 filled the stands, a total of 153,000 for the two days. Was it a great meet filled with dramatic duals? No, actually nearly every event lacked excitement from a team standpoint. The US went 1-2 in nine events. The Soviets swept five. The two relays were never in doubt. This is not to say that there were no great marks. There were. Seventeen stadium records, twelve meet records, three Russian records, two American records and two world records were set. It is just that there wasn't much competition between the two countries. The Russians won what they were supposed to win, so did the Americans. This meet was of major cold war importance for the propaganda that could be made in the  "Our Way Is Better Than Your Way" mentality that existed between the Americans and the Soviets, the East Bloc vs. the West.  Throughout the world we were competing on many fronts from the amount of money donated for aid projects or military hardware.  We were lining up for a hot war in Viet Nam and ready to contest the legitimacy of governments in Central America, South America, Africa , and Asia.  For this reason the USSR USA track and field meet produced a tremendous audience in North America both at the stadium and on television.  It was the beginning of the hey day of men's track and field   and the beginning of  a build up of  track and field for American women. ed.

At this point the cry of what about the broad jump dual between world record holder Igor Ter-Ovanesyan and Olympic champion Ralph Boston may be welling up in your throat. Okay, you got me there. That was pretty good. These are the only 27 foot jumpers in history. Boston is having step problems and Ter-Ovanesyan had three shots of novocaine to dull the pain in his thigh on his take off leg. Ter-Ovanesyan hits 26-6¾w on his first jump, but Boston tops that with his 26-9w in the second round. Though the Armenian matches his opening jump on his last effort, the day belongs to Boston.

Unquestionably the highlight of the meet comes on Sunday when 20 year old Valeryi Brumel clears 7-5 in the high jump, breaking his own world record and bringing 81,000 to their feet.

But the other world record may have been better intrinsically. Hal Connolly, beaten by Al Hall in his last two meets, puts to rest any thought that he is past his prime. In a performance, Cordner Nelson describes as “the best series in the history of hammer throwing”, in fact “the best series ever in any event”, Connolly adds 13 inches to his world record with a throw of 231-10. But that isn't the half of it. His remaining throws are 227-10, 225-0, 228-10½, 227-2 and 227-7. Putting this in further perspective, the best effort of three of the best hammer throwers in the world are four feet short of Connolly's worst.

Pyotr Bolotnikov is the only double winner, taking the 10,000 in an American all comers record of 29:17.7 on Saturday and the 5000 in 13:55.6 on Sunday as the Russians sweep both races.

Wilma Rudolph Ward wins 100

Opening Ceremonies

Ulis Williams lane 2 wins 400

Women's 80 meter hurdles

Payton Jordan Meet Director/Stanford Coach

The discus dual among world record holder Al Oerter and former record holders Vladimir Trusenyov and Rink Babka falls short of the anticipated fervor. Oerter wins easily at 200-1. Babka beats Trusenyov 193-10½ to 189-9. Oerter says that a trailing wind hampered the distances. “I am sure that my 200 foot throw would have gone at least five feet further with no wind or with a slight headwind.”

The timers are having a bad day. In the 100 Bob Hayes beats Roger Sayers by a yard, but both are given 10.2.

               Bob Hayes                                                                                       Roger Sayers

 In the highs Jerry Tarr hits the tape four feet in front of Hayes Jones, but the margin is not reflected in the times of 13.4 and 13.7.

Paul Drayton and Sayers run 20.8 and 20.9 to sweep the 200. Ulis Wiliams takes the 400 with ease in 46.4. Ray Saddler eases up at the finish and barely holds off Vadim Arkhipchuk 46.8 to 46.9.

Jerry Siebert says he is retiring after his 800. He wants to take Tom Courtney's 1:45.7 American record with him. The field is small, the track fast and the weather good. He follows the Russian leader through a 52.5 first go round, but can't get by the Soviet and Jim Dupree until the final straight where he opens up and powers to a 1:46.4 win. Dupree runs 1:46.8 in second.

One can only hope Jim Beatty gave Ivan Byelitskiy a hearty handshake and a slap on the back after the 1500 for the Soviet provides something Beatty has seldom seen, a fast early pace. The gutsy Ruskie leads through spits of 57.8, 1:57.8 and 2:57.7 before Beatty takes over on the backstretch and races to an American record of 3:39.9. Keith Forman, subbing for injured Jim Grelle, also passes Byelitskiy only to be nipped in the last few yards 3:41.0 to 3:41.2.

Rex Cawley takes the lead in the 400H on the sixth hurdle, but Willie Atterberry has more in the tank coming off the last hurdle and wins 50.3 to 50.5.

Ron Morris vaults 16-0¾ to win by nearly a foot over the Russian vaulters, but the surprise is a no clearance by John Cramer who passes at 13-3 and 13-9 before missing at 14-5¼. No explanation is given.

George Young wins the hearts of the crowd in the steeplechase when he hits a hurdle and falls flat on his face on the penultimate lap, only to rise and chase winner Nikolay Sokolov to the finish, losing only 8:42.3 to 8:44.7. There will be other days for George.

Dallas Long

As expected, Dallas Long and Gary Gubner go 1-2 in the shot, but it isn't easy. Long throws 64-1 to win, but Gubner has training for weight lifting and barely edges the Russian record of Viktor Lipsnis 62-3 to 62-1½.

Hayes Jones, Bob Hayes, Homer Jones and Paul Drayton combine to run 39.6 for victory in the short relay. The 1600 relay is even better. After Ray Saddler leads off in 46.9, things heat up. Cawley splits 45.9 and hands to Dave Archibald who runs 45.3. Ulis Williams brings it home in 45.7 for a 3:03.8 total, excellent considering that the Russians provide no competition and finish in 3:09.9. The red, white and blue win the team competition 128-107.

And yes, there are women's events. Tennessee State provides the basis for the US victories. Wilma Ward wins the 100 in 11.5 and Vivian Brown takes the 200 in 23.7. Willye White and Edith McGuirre combine with these two to take the 400 relay in 44.6. Other than that, our ladies are soundly whipped by the Soviet girls, as the visitors sweep six of the other seven events and take the meet 66-41.

Bert Nelson writes about the week leading up to the meet. The Russians arrived eight days before the competition. They stay in the Stanford dorms. We put on the full court press in the hospitality department. Each of the Russian women are given lipsticks. All of the athletes, coaches, managers, etc. are presented with baskets of fruit fresh from the Santa Clara Valley. The Russians are fascinated with our magazines. Okay, Track and Field News not so much, but Life, Time and the Saturday Evening Post are big hits. Yes, they know who Frank Sinatra and Doris Day are. A life cover featuring Marilyn Monroe is a big hit. Nelson runs through a typical dinner menu, “chicken, corn, potatoes, four kinds of bread, cottage cheese, several jellos, fruit salad, two kinds of milk, coffee, ice cream, a variety of fruit, and all the fruit juice you could drink”. No cabbage and fish head soup here, you Godless Ruskies.

Bert overhears a conversation among three pretty fair college football players. Homer Jones, Bob Hayes and Roger Sayers are talking about pro football. Jones and Hayes are going to play in the pros. Sayers says he is not. A surprised Hayes asks why not. Sayers replies, “Are you crazy, man? I weigh 148 pounds.” Rumor has it that Roger may not be the best football player in his family.

                                                                 Results

Women
Day 1
100 Meters  2. Wilma Rudolph-Ward 11.2    Maria Ikina  11.3  Edith McGuire 11.8  Gallina Popova 12.1

Javelin  Elvira Ozelina 183  4 1/2  Alextina Shastivka  167-9  Ranee Bair 147-3   Karen Mendyka 143-7

High Jump  Talkiya  USSR 5-7  Gallina Eveyukeva  5-5  Barbara Brown  5-3  Estelle Baskerville  5-2

Discus  Tamara Press    Olga Connolly 167 1  1/2  Antonina Eolyukhiina  163-6  Sharon Shepherd  151-3

4x100 Relay  US  44.8   USSR   


Men
Day One

100 Meters  Robert Hayes  10.2  Roger Sayers 10.2  Amin Tuyskov  10.4  Edvin Ossolin 10.5

110 HH  Jerry Tarr  13.4  Hayes Johnes  13.7  Anatoly Mikhaliev 13.7  Anatliv  Chistyokov 14.2

400 Meters  Ulis Williams 46.4  Ray Saddler 46.8  Vadin Aralipchik  46.9  Viktor Bychkov 47.9

10,000 Meters  P:yto Bolotnikov  29:17.7  Leonid Ivnaoff 29:30.3  Max Truex  29:34.1  Peter McCardle 30:57.2

Shot PUt  Dallas Long  64-1  Gary Gubner  62-3  Viktor Liponis  62-1

Pole Vault  Ron Morris  16-3/4 US    Petrenka  15-1 USSR   Igor Feld USSR  14-9  1/4   Jon Cramer  US No Height

20Km Walk  Vladimir Gobabnichay  1hr 27:51  Antily Vedyskov  1 hr 38:28  Ron Zinn 1 hr 43:34  John Allen 1 hr 46:04

4x100meter relay  Hayes Jones, Bob Hayes, Homer Jones, Paul Drayton 39.8  Amin Tuyakev, Edvin Ossolin,  Yvacheslav Prokhorevsky Nikolai Politike  40.2

Broad Jump  Ralph Boston 26-9  Igor Ter Ovanesyan  26 6 3/4  Paul Warfiled  25  8 3/;4  Dimitry Bonderenko 25-4

Hammer  Hal Connolly 251-10 WR  Alexay Bielievsky 221-3  Yuriy Bakaronov 218-11  Al Hall 213- 1 1/2

Decathlon

100  Kuznetsov 10.9  Kurenko  11.1  Herman 11.2   Pauly 12.3

BJ  Herman 24 3 1/2  Kuznetsov 23-11  1/4  Kurenko  23-9  Pauly 23- 1 1/2 

SP  Kuznetsov  47-4  Pauly  45-6 1/4  Herman  43-0  Kurenko  40-10

HJ  Tie  Kuznetsov   Herman 5-11   Pauly 5-9   Kurenko Withdrew

Ralph Boston at Rome

Janis Lusis  today

  John Thomas

George Young

Igor Ter-Ovanesyan

Rink Babka

400  Herman  50.1  Pauly  50.2   Kuznetsov  53.2

Total Day One Decathlon Vasily  Kuznetsov  4080 Paul Herman 4041 Steve  Pauly 3874


Day  2
Women
200 Meters   1. Vivian Brown, US, 23.7    2. Maria Itkina, USSR, 23.8   3. Valentina Maslovakaya, USSR, 24.3   4. Carol Smith, US  24.3

80 meter Hurdles
1. Irina Press, USSR 10.7   2. Niilya Kulykova USSR 10.8  3. Cherrie Parish  US  11.2  4. Joanne Terry US 11.3

800 Meters
1. Lyudmila Lysenko USSR 2:08.6  2. Yekaterina Pariyuk USSR 2:09.6   3. Leah Bennett US 2:10.4 (US record, pending of 2:12.8 also by Bennett)  4. Sandra Knott US 2:11.8

Shot Put
1. Tamara Press USSR 57  1/2   2. Galina Zybina USSR 55  1/2  3. Earlene Brown US  48 11  4. Cynthia Wyatt US 46  10 1/2
Broad Jump   1. Tatiana Schelkanova USSR  20  11  3/4   2. Willye White US 20  3 1/2  3. Vera Krepkina USSR 19  5 1/2  4. Edith McGuire US  18  9 1/2

Decathlon

110 HH  Kzsnetsov  14.6 (923)  Pauly US  14.8 (867)  Herman US 15.3 740  Kutenko (withdrew due to illness

Discus  Kuznetsov 155-3 (854)  Pauly 140-1 (790)  Herman 137  10 (683)
Pole Vault Herman 13 10 1/4 (854)  Kuznetsov 13  8 1/2 (835)  Pauly 12 11 1/2 (720)

Jav  Kuznetsov 228 4 1/2 (977)  Pauly 215  4 1/4 (784)  Herman 194 8 1/2 (647)

1500 meters Herman 4:15.9  (665)  Pauly 5:01 (253)  Kuznetsov 5:30 (141)

Final Score  Kuznetsov  7830  Herman 7653   Pauly 6996


Men  Day Two

400 Hurdles  Willie Atterbury  50.3 MR,  Rex Cawley 50.5  Vasilliy Aniaimov 50.9 , Georgiy Chevychalov  51.2

200 Meters   Paul Drayton 20.8  Roger Syers 20.9  Edvin Ossolin 21.2  Amin Tuyakov 21.5

800 Meters  Jerry Siebert 1:46.4  Jim Dupree 1:46.8  Valeriy Bulyshev 1:48  Abram Kriveshev 1:49.6

Steeplechase  Nickolay Sokolov  8:42.3  George Young  8:44.7  Pat Traynor  8:50  Vladimir Evdokomov 9:02

High Jump   Valery Brumel  7-5 WR  Gene Johnson 7-0  Viktor Bolyshov 6-10 fewer misses  John Thomas 6-10

Discus  Al Oerter  200-1  Rink Babka 193-10 1/2  Vladimir Trusenov  189-9  Kim Bukhantsev 184-5

1500 Meters Jim Beatty  3:39.8  Ivan Beletskely 3:41  Keith Foreman  3:41.2  Vasily Savlakov  3:48.8

5000 Meters  Pytor Bolotkniov 13:53.6  Alexander Artynyuk  14:06.4  Charlie Clark  14:09.8  John Gutknecht 14:31.5

Jav   Janis Lusis 269-6  USSR     Viktor Taybulenko 256-2  USSR   Dand Studney  USA 243  Nick Kovalakides 238  3  1/2 US HSJ  Vladimir Gosaeyev  54  5  1/21   Oleg Fedoseev  53  1  1/2  Bill Share 52  4 1/2  Herman Stokes  51  3 1/2

4x400  1. US  Sadler Cawley  Archibald Williams  3:03.8
            2.  USSR  Arkipchick  Aychkov  Anisunov  Sverbetev   3:09.8

Final Men     US  128   USSR  107
                      USSR 90   USA  41
Note:  Some times and distance may vary slightly from Roy's reporting due to the difficulty reading some of the text off the internet.   Of interest in the AP  story  was that writing style of the day  frequently referred to women athletes in a formal manner  ie.  Mrs. Rudolph-Ward or Mrs. Ludyshenko.

Also to be noted in the Eugene Guard Register on this same day there was an All - Comers meet in Eugene in which Bill Dellinger won the mile   4:43   and the 2 mile in 10:01.  Maybe he had just come in from a hard 20 miler and wanted to do a little cool down. ed.

Advertising in the Eugene Guard Register that day -- Earl Schieb would  "Paint Your Car"  for $29.95    and a set of 4 new tires was $49.50.



Dean Cromwell      Dink Templeton

We will end this report with mention of the deaths of two track and field icons. On August 4 Dean Cromwell, the coach at USC from 1908 to 1948 and 1948 Olympic coach, dies of a heart attack at 82 in Los Angeles. His teams won twelve NCAA titles including nine in a row from 1935 to 1943. Many of his athletes became prominent coaches themselves. They include Herschel Smith, long time coach at Compton College and founder of the Compton Invitational; Jesse Mortensen who followed Cromwell at USC, winning seven NCAA championships; Payton Jordan of Stanford who was the meet director for the 1962 dual meet with the Russians; Jess Hill, the USC athletic director and acting SC track coach for the '62 season; and Vern Wolfe the current SC coach.   Not to be forgotten was Cromwell's role in taking Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman off of the 4x100 relay at the 1936 Olympics (See earlier post on Sam Stoller) ed.

                                                                                                     Dean Cromwell and Greta Garbo

Three days later the grim reaper visited Dink Templeton. He died of a heart attack following pneumonia which developed from a bad cold he picked up, ironically, at the US-USSR meet. He placed fourth in the broad jump in the 1920 Olympics and played on the Olympic winning rugby team. He coached the Stanford track team as an undergraduate in 1917 and 1918. He was known as “the boy coach” when, following graduation, he became the head coach in 1921. Over the next 19 years his Stanford team won three NCAA titles, a record beaten only by Cromwell and Mortensen (who died in February of '62). He held an edge on Cromwell in dual meets, 12-11. He resigned from Stanford in 1939 because of ill health. Upon regaining his health he coached the San Francisco Olympic Club until it dropped track 15 years later. He was a flier in WWI and later earned a law degree at Stanford.

Late breaking news from page 19. Dr. Robert Dickie of the Princeton University physics department thinks that some of the world's leading jumpers are reaching fantastic heights because the earth's gravitational pull is fading. Andhere              Brumel, Boston and Ter-Ovanesyan thought hard work was the reason.

Valery Brumel

Brumel died Jan. 25, 2003 at age 60

Paul Drayton winner of 200

Gary Gubner

Al Oerter 

And now to give you a weapon for the next time the conversation at the Dew Drop Inn turns to track and field trivia. Hit 'em with this and you won't have to buy a round the rest of the evening. The shot that set Bill Nieder's 65-10 world record and the shot that Dallas Long used to break that record by half an inch.......is the same shot. Vern Wolfe gave it to Long when he was at North Phoenix High. It is the only one Long has ever used. On the night Nieder set his record he borrowed it from Long.