1964 OLYMPICS fourth day Oct. 17
Today's program includes four finals: the 200, steeplechase, shot put and pole vault. We also have the semifinals in the 200, the first two rounds of the 400, the first rounds of the 1500 and high hurdles and qualifying in the hammer throw.
200 SEMIFINALS
Some of the better 200 guys coasted through yesterday's first two rounds. There is none of that today. The big boys make sure they will be around for this afternoon's final. Two races qualify the first four finishers.
Paul Drayton takes no prisoners in the first race, equaling the Olympic
record of 20.5.
Sergio Ottolina of Italy is second at 20.7, a tenth ahead of Richard Stebbins of the US who has to work hard on the straight after a bad start. Marian Foik of Poland edges France's Paul Genevay for the last spot in the finals as both run 20.9.
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| Otis Paul Drayton |
Sergio Ottolina of Italy is second at 20.7, a tenth ahead of Richard Stebbins of the US who has to work hard on the straight after a bad start. Marian Foik of Poland edges France's Paul Genevay for the last spot in the finals as both run 20.9.
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| Paul Gevenay |
The prevailing thought is that world record holder Henry Carr is either not at the top of his game or he has been taking it easy in the first two rounds. Any question about his health is answered in the second race as he comes into the straight two yards behind Livio Berruti of Italy then goes to the afterburners to power past the reigning Olympic champion and win in 20.6. Berruti's 20.8 is a tenth better than that of Trinidad-Tobago's Edwin Roberts.
Canada's Harry Jerome
keeps alive his quest to become the only medal winner in both sprints by barely edging France's Roger Bambuck for fourth, both running 21.0.
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| Berutti congratulating Carr |
keeps alive his quest to become the only medal winner in both sprints by barely edging France's Roger Bambuck for fourth, both running 21.0.
SHOT PUT QUALIFYING
This morning it will take a throw of 17.80 meters (58'4¾” in imperial measurement) to be invited back for this afternoon's activities. If there is any event in this Olympiad in which the US is sure of having all three entrants make the final, this is it. Our guys are world record holder Dallas Long, iconic two time Olympic champion Parry O'Brien and 19 year old Randy Matson who has the second longest throw in history.
No surprises here. One throw for each is all it takes. Long throws 64-0¼, Matson 62-1 and O'Brien 58-6. Thanks for dropping by, guys. We'll see you this afternoon.
400 METERS FIRST ROUND
At ten o'clock it is a sunny 64 degrees as fifty five runners prepare for seven heats which will qualify the first four finishers and the next four fastest times overall.
Trinidad-Tobago's Wendell Mottley sets the tone in the first race with a stunning 45.9 victory, the fastest time of the morning and over a second and a half than necessary to qualify. England's Robbie Brightwell runs 46.1 for the second best time in the heat and the morning.
Mottley's T-T teammate Kent Bernard, a Michigan man, shows better emotional control in the second race, winning in a more suitable 46.8. Poland's Andrzej Badenski takes the third race in 46.4.
Our guys show their stuff in the next three races. Ulis Williams wins the fourth heat in 46.2. Olan Cassell edges Canada's Bill Crothers, 46.8 for both in the fifth race, a time matched by Mike Larabee in winning the sixth heat. Czech Josef Trousil takes the last heat in a sensible 47.0.
No one of consequence has been eliminated. Thirty-two one lappers will return this afternoon.
HAMMER THROW QUALIFYING
It takes a throw of 63 meters, 206-8 in Englishspeak, to qualify for tomorrow's final. Fifteen throwers, including our three guys, are up to that task. World record holder Hal Connolly pops 221-1½ and is excused for the rest of the day. Ed Burke, at 213-1, and Al Hall, at 211-0, also get their tickets punched for the final. Russia also has three in the final. The day's longest throw, 223-0½, belongs to Gyula Zsivotzky of Hungary.
1500 METERS FIRST ROUND
There are four heats with the first four finishers in each qualifying along with the two fastest losers. The US has an entrant in each of the first three races.
Dyrol Burleson qualifies easily in the first heat, running 3:45.6 to place third behind Wiltold Baran of Poland and John Davies of New Zealand. Jim Ryun shows he is up to running with his elders, placing fourth in the second heat in 3:44.4 behind the European trio of Michel Bernard of France, Jurgen May of Germany and John Whetton of Great Britain.
The third heat belongs to Kipchoge Keino of Kenya whose 3:45.8 gives him a comfortable margin over Wolf-Dieter Holtz of Germany who is closely followed by Tom O'Hara of the US in 3:46.7. Taking an afternoon stroll, finishing a tenth behind O'Hara, is yesterday's 800 champ, Peter Snell, completing the first step of the second half of his quest to win both the 880 and 1500.
The fourth heat has the advantage of knowing what it will take to qualify for the last two spots and, indeed, that is exactly what happens. The pace is a tad swifter and the fastest four times of the day are the result. Great Britain's Alan Simpson wins in 3:42.8 followed by Jean Wadoux of France, 3:43.0, Czechoslovakia's Josef Odlozil, 3:43.2 and Belgium's Eugene Allonsius, 3:43.3. Yugoslavia's Simo Vasic benefits the most from the fast pace, making the cut at 3:43.7 as the fastest non-automatic qualifier.
110 METER HIGH HURDLES
There are five heats, each qualifying three and the fastest fourth place finisher for tomorrow's semifinals. It is apparent that no one is flat out as the fastest time is 14.1. Our guys, Hayes Jones, Blaine Lindgren and Willie Davenport, all qualify easily. Davenport loafs to a second place finish in the first heat in 14.4. Lindgren wins the second heat in 14.2, the same time run by Jones in finishing second in the fifth heat. The day's fastest time belongs to Russian Anatoliy Michailov. No one of consequence is eliminated.
One wonders why the hurdlers aren't running the semis this afternoon. The 400 runners are running two today.
400 METERS SECOND ROUND
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| Olan Cassell |
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| Wendell Mottley |
Wendell Mottley's 45.9 is the fastest time of the morning. Not content with that, the Yale captain runs 45.8 to win the first heat for the quickest clocking of the afternoon. Ollan Cassell of the US is second in 46.2.
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| Robbie Brightwell |
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| Andrej Badenski |
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| Bill Crothers |
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| Mike Larabee |
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| Kent Bernard |
STEEPLECHASE FINAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik-5HfmJ6C8
World record holder Gaston Roelants of Belgium has been wearing a cast on his leg in the Olympic village but there has been no explanation why and he certainly didn't look hindered two days ago in qualifying.
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| Gaston Roelants Belgium Olympic Champion |
At the gun Adolf Aleksiejunas of the Soviet Union jumps into the lead. The Russian broke the Olympic record finishing ahead of Roelants in the final heat of qualifying and appears confident of carrying his advantage over to today.
Roelants is not easily intimidated. By the end of the first lap he has taken over and leads by five yards with the rest of the field, including George Young of the US, tightly bunched.
At the end of the third lap the world record holder applies pressure and opens up seven yards on second place Guy Texereau of France with the rest of the field fifteen yards behind. Roelants continues to force the pace and, with five laps gone, now leads by 12 yards over Texereau with Young
another five back in third.
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| George Young |
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| George Young |
Roelants' dominance is obvious as on the sixth lap his advantage grows to 40 yards over the surprising Young who is trying to distance himself from the pack. At the start of the final lap, Young's resolve is overwhelmed by his fatigue and the pack closes in. Maurice Herriott of Great Britain is moving up on Young but no one is catching Roelants who has opened 60 yards. On the backstretch the pace begins to tell on the great Belgian, but no one is close enough to threaten him
.
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| Maurice Herriott |
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| Maurice Herriott |
Young is feeling the effects of his American record the day before yesterday. Herriott goes by, followed by Ivan Belyayvev of the USSR and Portugal's surprising Manuel Oliviera. But no one is catching Roelants, although Herriott closes to within 10 yards at the tape. Roelants has earned the new Olympic record of 8:30.8 to go with his gold medal. Herriott's 8:32.4 British Empire record is good for silver. Belyayev takes the bronze at 8:33.8. Oliviera is fourth in 8:36.2, two seconds ahead of the courageous Young who edges Texereau by two tenths.
SHOT PUT FINAL
There is no doubt. World record holder Dallas Long is the man in this event. He is a heavy favorite to win gold. Upon his retirement to concentrate on dental school, Randy Matson will inherit the throne. Today they enter the competition #1 and #2. They will leave the field this afternoon as #1 and #1a.
There is hope that the US will sweep the medals as former record holder and two time Olympic champion, Parry O'Brien could pick up bronze.
Thirteen throwers will have three throws to position themselves in the top six and by so doing, earn three more throws.
Long leads after the first round with 64-4. Vilmos Varju of Hungary is a surprising second at 63-1. O'Brien is sitting third at 62-2. Matson's first effort is only 60-9½, leaving him in sixth.
In the second round Matson improves to 62-11½ to drop O'Brien from third.
Things get interesting in the third round. O'Brien regains third with his best throw of the day, 63-0, and Varju pops 63-7 to improve his hold on second. Matson is up next and this is where things change. The 19 year old Texas A&M freshman pops a new Olympic record of 65-2 and moves into the gold medal position. Long can't improve and so, when the field is culled to six, the medal order is Matson, Long and Varju.
The future becomes clear in the fourth round when Matson steps into the ring and gets all of his 6'7”, 245 pounds into the throw. When the measurement of 66-3¼ is read it is obvious that young Randy isn't waiting for Dallas Long's retirement to claim the crown. It is the longest throw of his life and breaks his Olympic record set a few minutes ago.
Now, his dominance in question, Long is in the ring. His best of the day is nearly two feet behind that of Matson. In a literal minute order is restored. With a mighty grunt, Long propels the iron ball 66-8½ to reclaim first place.
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| Discussing Matson's upcoming Basketball Season? |
Matson can't improve on his next two throws. Neither can Long, but it doesn't matter, 66-8½ is enough to do it. He retires with the gold medal and Olympic record. Matson will have to wait four years for another chance. Varju is third and O'Brien fourth.
200 FINAL
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| Henry Carr |
At 4:00 it is the very picture of a fine fall day, 73 degrees and virtually no wind. The Olympic champion is about to be determined. The good news for the Italians is that they have two competitors in this final. The bad news is that they have drawn the two tight inside lanes. From inside out the lane assignments are 1) defending champion Livio Berruti wearing his trademark dark glasses 2) teammate Sergio Ottolina who was second in this morning's heat 3) Canada's Harry Jerome attempting to become the only double sprint medal winner 4)
Poland's Marian Foik 5) Paul Drayton of the US who equaled the Olympic record this morning 6) the erratic Richard Stebbins of the US 7) world record holder Henry Carr who won the other heat this morning 8) the dangerous Edwin Roberts of Trinidad-Tobago. While the Italians have reason to grumble about the lane assignments, the Americans have to be thrilled to be placed together in outside lanes.
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| Foik second from right |
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| Marian Foik |
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| Richard Stebbins |
Everyone starts well. Drayton and Carr have enough history to know each others racing tendencies. Drayton is counting on having the lead as the field enters the straight. He is surprised that Carr has outrun him by a yard as they come off the curve. Unfortunately for Drayton, there is no plan B available. Give Henry Carr a yard lead halfway through the race and it is over. Indeed it is. Carr continues to widen his margin all the way to the tape which is reached in Olympic record time of 20.3.
Drayton holds on to claim silver in 20.5 ahead of Roberts, whose 20.6 denies Jerome his second medal by a tenth.
.Berruti, Foik and Stebbins finish in that order, all clocking 20.8. Ottolina is eighth in 20.9.
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| Finish 200 L to R Roberts, Carr, Stebbins, Drayton, Foik, Jerome, Ottolina , Berutti |
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| Edwin Roberts |
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Sergio Ottolina
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Here's the replay on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdfB8ni1FK0
The day belongs to Carr. He has dominated the best sprinters in the world. The Arizona State student now has a gold medal, Olympic record and world record on his resume and he is not done. He will be back to lead off the US 4 x 400 relay team.
POLE VAULT FINAL
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| Fred Hansen |
Eighteen vaulters qualified two days ago, oddly two thirds of them from four countries. Germany, Russia, Finland and the US each have three athletes in today's final.
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| John Pennel |
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| Billy Pemelton |
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| Pennel and Hansen |
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| Hansen sequence |
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| Manfred Preussger |
Hansen has vaulted only four times, having passed on five heights. At 16-6¾ he passes again. Reinhardt clears on his first jump to take the lead. Preussger and Lehnertz each miss three times. Lehnertz has the bronze medal on fewer misses.
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| Klaus Lehnertz |
Now we are down to Hansen and Reinhardt at 5.10 meters (16-8¾).
Reinhardt is in the gold medal position. If they both miss, he wins by virtue of clearing 5.05 while Hansen passed. If they both clear on the same turn, Hansen wins on fewer total misses.
Hansen is up first. Under normal circumstances 16-8¾ is no problem. He is the world record holder at 17-4. But these circumstances are far from normal. Fred has been sitting and waiting for six hours. Now it is 9:30 and everything is on the line.
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| Manfred Preussger |
On his first attempt he hits the bar on the way up. Reinhardt doesn't come close. On Hansen's second attempt his feet are too far apart and once again he displaces the bar on his way up. Reinhardt misses as well, but this time it is close.
Now Hansen is down to his last jump. The US has won the pole vault in every Olympics. Failure to clear this height and that streak will be over. He moves the uprights back eight inches, the farthest they will go. At 10:02 he starts his run. He hits the box and his pole bends as well as ever. Up, up and over by half a foot he goes.
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| Hansen winning jump |
The three German vaulters all congratulate him. Yes, Reinhardt has a jump left, but even if he makes it, he will have to outjump Hansen at the next height to win. He hits the bar with his knees and at 10:07 the event is over. There is no reason for Hansen to jump again.
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| Wolfgang Reinhardt and Klaus Lehnertz |
What went through Hansen's mind as he prepared for that last jump? Fred says, “I was thinking what I could do for my country, not for myself. Please don't think I am corny, but that is what I was thinking.”
SUMMARY
A good day, no, make that a great day by any measure. Americans won gold and silver in the shot put and 200 and a dramatic gold in the pole vault. George Young placed well in the steeplechase. All three of our guys advanced in the hammer, 400, 1500 and high hurdles. Can't ask for much more than that.
Tomorrow we'll see finals in the 5000, hammer throw and 50 kilometer walk, semis and final in the high hurdles, qualifying and final in the broad jump and the semifinals of the 400. Should be fun. Once again we'll save you the seat right next to ours. See you tomorrow.
Obituary Paul Drayton March 2, 2010
Otis Paul Drayton, Jr. was born May 8, 1939 to Otis (Sr.) and Sally Drayton in Glen Cove, New York. He moved to Cleveland with his family at an early age. Both parents preceded him in death.
Otis, or Paul as he was referred to by many, graduated from Cathedral Latin High School and Villanova University. He was a proud member of the United States Army from 1963 to 1966. Paul retired from the City of Cleveland's Recreation Division as Deputy Project Director in 2003 and later worked part-time for the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department as a process server.
In the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Paul led the United States relay team to a world record gold medal win in the 4 X 100 relay and won a silver medal in the 200 meter race.Paul accomplished many other athletic feats including High School All-American, AAU champion from 1961-1963, two-time All-American at Villanova University, and numerous world-wide records.
Paul loved life and people. He was passionate about history and could quote Bible passages as well as clergy. The recent United States Presidential election of Barrack Obama delighted Paul immensely and he would often engage everyone he came in contact with in a hearty discussion of President Obama. Paul was known for his continuous and hearty "high-fives" and funny stories. He savored the comradeship of his fellow Olympian and other athletes and looked forward every year to an annual gathering in Philadelphia prior to the final day of the Penn Relays. Paul started this annual Penn Relay dinner 13 years ago with five people and it has now grown to a large event with last year's attendance up to almost 75. Paul was concerned about today's youth, particularly young men, and encouraged education and/or service to the military. Although not a rich man and often teased for his frugality, Paul firmly believed in helping others in need and contributed to a variety of organizations. A devout Catholic, Paul enjoyed his life-long attendance at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church.
He enjoyed traveling, photography, computers, great food and loved to have people visit his home.
