V 14 N. 8 Doping Then, Doping Now

 Last October Preston Davis (U. of Texas)  sent me this first news piece (below) from India. Took me a long time to get it on the blog, Preston, but I hope it was worth the wait.   Wow, India has arrived in the doping market of track and field.  Once it was mainly East Germany and American throwers who garnered all the attention.  I'm also reminded personally of an encounter in 1970 with members of a Special Forces A Team in England and their mentioning that they used 'stimulants' when going into the field.  The British equivalent lads Special Air Services (SAS) were a bit taken aback when they heard this from our guys.  To confirm the Green Beanies' statement, I found this article online from The Lancet  Use of Amphetamines in the Military  (Note:  It looks like Chrome or Google wants to block this.  Just type Use of Stimulants in the Military by Eric A. Bower into your URL and the article may come up.  It reports that stimulants were used by US military as far back as WWII and still are used.   I also decided to look back into old newspapers 1890 to 1914 to see what was being mentioned on the subject as regards sport.    There were numerous articles from 1900 on talking about administering strychnine, cocaine, and oxygen as stimulants to performance in running as well as swimming.  The idea seems to have come from horseracing where a bit of money could be made from not very sophisticated drug abuse on the horses, not the jockeys. Maybe even Phidippides was getting hits of ouzo from grateful peasants while on his way to declare the Greek victory at Marathon.  One article on performance enhancement regarding the design of the swimming suit sounds like the description of the advantage of the latest running shoes.  Today's shoe marketing stammer  could easily have been lifted from this particular article.     I've posted a number of those stories from places as remote as New Zealand and as close to home as Omaha.  There were rules listed formally banning stimulants at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, this being one of the first official bans on chemical assistance in sport.  It really worked, didn't it?  Makes for some interesting reading if you have the  time.    George

From Preston Davis:    Wild story out of India, where most athletes disappeared from a state track meet after doping officials showed up.  November,  2023 ‌ From The Indian Express: ‌ "The final day of the Delhi State Athletics Championship … at the warm-up track of the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the national capital, turned into a cat-and-mouse game between athletes and doping control officers on Tuesday." ‌ "The number of participants fell by half as news spread that National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) officials had dropped in, a day after a purported video clip of the washroom at the stadium showed piles of used syringes." ‌ This is nuts: Only one person ran the men's 100m final after seven others withdrew, citing cramps or muscle strains. In the steeplechase, one athlete kept running after crossing the finish line to evade testing. ‌ The big picture: Doping is a serious problem in India, which ranked second behind Russia in violations per a recent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)

Here are those news stories from the distant past

 This one first got my attention.  It is from our youth when the world was still an innocent place.  At least I thought it was.  I love the term  "Pep Up Pills",  it just sounds so naive in today's lingo.  Something out of James Dean's  "Rebel Without a Cause" or Brando's "The Wild One".

                                                           From L. A. Mirror June 6, 1957

Roger Bannister's Advisor , Franz Stampfl's Reaction to Above Article

Skip Back to Turn of the 19th Century

                                               The Omaha Daily Bee  May 30, 1909

                                                   Washington Post August 16, 1914

                                            The Montreal Star  December 7, 1907

         Possibly the World's First Doping Poem in The L.A. Herald  August 29, 1909

                              from The Evening Star (New Zealand) April 3, 1901

            The article appeared in numerous journals around the British Empire

 

                                         The Alameda Times   September 7, 1908

                     Doping with Oxygen,  Gambling, Heaven Forbid, and Fast Gear

                            We're Gonna Fix This Thing For Good in Stockholm

                                Also several interesting Track and Field Rule Changes

                                                      Running Against The Sun?

Salt Lake Tribune Dec. 26, 1913

And Lawyers Get Into the Act (second story)

 Doping is overwhelming but I did not realize its beginnings as far back as 1909.  I will simply trust the anti-doping organizations to weed out the abusers who are always ahead of the enforcers.  Sometimes the question is which drugs are legal and which are not since they all get the athlete to a better place.  I can honestly say none of my marks were aided by drugs, even Coca Cola.  Bill Schnier

V 14 N. 7 A Second Tribute to Tom Coyne 1933- 2024 by His Teammate Paul O'Shea

 

Fifteen finishers from the October 29, 1950 Waukegan, Illinois five-miler.  Coyne is kneeling, furthest left, with the race winner Bobby Allen in the center.  Coyne was second in the race.  O’Shea is shown in the center with a number 44 jersey. Allen ran for Marquette University and won a number of Central Collegiate titles.

                               He Was My Friend from Starting Line to Podium

                                                        By Paul O’Shea

For seventy-five years, I knew Tom Coyne as a leader, competitor, teammate. And finally, as my

editor who put things to right on dozens of articles I wrote about the sport we both loved.

Our journey began in l949 when I was thirteen, living in a western suburb, traveling downtown

to attend Chicago’s St. Ignatius High School.

Like innocents with little football experience but a South Bend field of dreams, I thought I could

enhance the Ignatius freshman team. On Day Two the wide receiver coach relieved me of ever

having to Play Like a Champion Today.

Unsure of what to do next, I sat at the edge of the practice field with the answer right in front

of me. The dozen runners relentlessly circling the field in the late summer heat weren’t football

rejects. They were Chicago’s premier high school cross country team.

Like the proverbial caboose, I hooked on and found my niche. One of the leaders was Tom

Coyne, with a powerful stride, a stern expression, focused as if taking a Jesuit final exam. In

fact, I was the one who would open the bluebook and pass the course.

I spent two years at St. Ignatius and watched Tom and fellow co-captain Ray Mayer win dozens

of city and conference races, on grass and the track. I had modest success (I was Catholic City

champion at 880 yards as a sophomore) before transferring to a public high school near my

suburban home.

In the Nineteen Fifties Tom and I would seek off-label races which didn’t involve the St. Ignatius

Wolfpack. My scrapbook carries crumbling clippings from a dozen or so races we contested. I

ran in two national championship 15 kilometer races on the roads of Washington Park. A year

later, possibly envious of all the fun I had in l950 when I finished eleventh, Tom entered and

finished sixth while I was thirteenth.

Especially memorable were Thanksgiving weekend contests staged in typical Midwestern

winter conditions. Not one but two five thousand meter cross country races were offered at

Chicago’s Waveland Golf Course, just a few icicles from Lake Michigan. The Central AAU meet

was held on the holiday followed by the CYO meet two days later. We ran through crusty sand

traps, over frozen putting greens, into the unrelenting wind and back to the starting line for the

finish.

Meet results from the ‘50 race confirmed the conditions: “snowed hard, 25 mile wind, 25

degrees.” Two days later: “Light snow, 22 mile wind, temperature 13 degrees.” No amount of

analgesic balm could cope.

When I came home my Czech born and raised mother rewarded me with drumsticks, dumplings

and strudel.

For most diehard distance runners there are no off seasons.

During the winter, when not running in the halls of our Roosevelt Road school, we trained at

the Chicago Avenue Armory, with its unusual olfactory challenges. The site of indoor

professional polo, adding to our routine breathing burdens were the smells of the horses

housed in stables underneath the facility.

Outdoors, Tom and I would see each other at University of Chicago Track Club open meets at

Chicago’s Stagg Field and Rockne Stadium and occasionally compete in the same race. I earned

only moral victories. One rare out of town contest was a five-mile road race held in Waukegan,

Illinois. Fifteen or so starters strung out across a city street. Coyne was second, O’Shea fourth.

No automobiles were disadvantaged by the mobile intruders.

In the Mid Sixties Tom and I discovered a seldom offered event, the Two-Man Ten-Mile Relay. A

team of two was asked to complete forty circuits of Stagg Field’s En-Tout-Cas track, with no

restrictions on how the task should be apportioned. Showing a courtesy instilled by the Jesuits,

we determined that each would run twenty alternate quarters.

Round and round the Coyne-O’Shea entry proceeded, but late in the enterprise aerobic

burdens added up, and Coyne was forced to assume more of the chore as O’Shea required

more time to complete his assignment. Faster teams whisked by, finishing ahead of us, amused

by the chaps still circling, while they recovered on the infield.

Tom and I lost touch until we reconnected decades later, after he had seen something I had

written. Then, I asked him if he would check copy I was producing for a newsletter, and the last

years of our friendship began.

Over two decades Tom reviewed some forty pieces I wrote about my reporting on international

track meets, years as a high school cross country coach, and books about our sport. His scrutiny

and advice were invaluable, reflecting his own deep skills as a writer.

The last time I saw Tom was about ten years ago when he came East to a high school meet at

Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Maryland. Tom’s athletic partner sixty years earlier had a

mission to open St. Ignatius athletes to wider athletic opportunities while also giving them new

educational vistas. That year Ray Mayer funded the entire trip for the St. Ignatius track team,

twenty-one runners, jumpers, and throwers. Tom and I joined in the project, and I wrote about

it for this blog (link)  Vol 3 N. 62 St. Ignatius Prep Gets Ignited by a Former Runner

Thomas Coyne died January 14 at age ninety.

He deserves our sport’s highest accolade: world class.

January 2024

Below is a clipping from the Chicago Sun Times with results of that city's scholastic cross country championships.  They had a public and private school division.  I'm sure the coaches did a postal type competition to see who would have won out if both divisions ran together.  Ed.  

                                                                          1951

St. Ignatius was the class act in this meet.  It appears this meet went beyond the Chicago limits with Culver Military coming over from Indiana for the race.

V 14 N. 6 The Passing of Al Cantello and Knut Hjeltnes R.I.P.

 January 19, 2024

Al Cantello in his famous follow through

Knut Hjeltnes

Friday January 19, 2024

It has been a sad week with the passing of four people in the track and field world, only one of which I was personally connected with.  But this sport is truly a connector to all of us, so the passing of a stranger can still cause a personal pain.   Before starting this piece on Al Cantello and Knut Hjeltnes I received a letter late Thursday night from Elliott Denman, international race walker, former Olympian, and a nonagenarian of extreme and extraordinary vigor.  Elliott says it all and then some.  I cannot hope to match Mr. Denman's letter but will humbly follow with some clippings on Al Cantello and Knut Hjeltnes.

George Brose

Hi Everybody...

Happy Thursday!

That said, just wanted to sit down at my computer and pour out my heart a bit...and start by saying

I am totally saddened by the passing of Mr. Al Cantello. Mr. Knut Hjeltnes, too....

Al was a truly wonderful athlete, coach and gentleman,

His hometown was Norristown, Pa, and what a town it was...and is..

Home of track's Josh Culbreath, too....For a while, home of Hall of Famer Ron Laird..Home of baseball's TommyLaSorda...and Mike Piazza...so many other notables..

He was a great LaSalle man....Along with track's Ira Davis and John Uelses, lots more...and basketball's Paul Ariziin, and swimming's Joe Verdeur...

If you're a younger guy, go-googling and read the stories of these great people..

Al was one of the sport's greatest coulda-woulda-shouldas....

He came to the 1960 Rome Olympics as the world record holder...but was caught up in the mire of late-evolving implement change rules, etc..

Google all this. too.

Became truly great coach at Naval Academy, coached great young men including astronaut Willie McCool 

 (suggestion: read his story carefully, too)  who served us all so well...

Al and I were USA co-staff members at the 1990 Seattle Goodwill Games, tremendous event with many highlights..

For me, one of those was the chance to meet the young Dan O'Brien....and just look at what he soon would do.

Al had a great family loss some years ago, lots who knew him were so-saddened...

A grandson of Jo and I is now at the Naval Academy, and excellent swimmer..I have told him of Al's lifetime story...It has made him a better Midshipman..

Au Revoir, Al..

Knew Knut for his discus feats at Penn State and for Norway and for his friendship with my friend and teammate Art Swarts..

Later as the coach at West Point///

May have been sports' second greatest Knute (beyond Rockne...who by the way, did you know this? - was deeply involved in track, too..)  

Knute Rockne first came to Notre Dame as the track coach before he coached football. ed.  

I have always loved to see these great big men in action, spinning as gingerfully as ballet performers....and letting 

their disci fly off into the wild blue yonder..

At their best, they are true artists...To see a discus whirl and whirl and plop down in a distant location is a great sports sight..

One  of all sports' greatest pieces of statuary is Rodin's Discus Thrower....The ancients had that one right..

Years ago, when our Capt. Ronald Zinn Memorial Races were in need of a new home (with the storm damage to the Asbury Park

 boardwalk) I suggested these races be moved to a truly apporopriate site - i.e., the storied West Point campus..

Alas, it was a good idea but Knut H. couldn't make it happen..

Fortunately, the Zinn Races are  back now and doing well at Dorbrook Park, Colts Neck, NJ thanks to our excellent

 Shore AC management team...

Au Revoir, Knut..

With this double dose of sadness, it makes me more resolved to do good things in our sport than ever before..

So many excellent ideas and projects are out there just waiting to be done.....sure hope that most of them can actually turn into reality..

Sure hope folks step up to make them happen..

I'll be 90 on Jan. 23....so much still to be done..

On June 2 at Joe Compagni Track, my Shore AC colleagues will stage the second Elliott D NJ International Meet at

  Monmouth University....The 2023 meet was really excellent...Would love to see the Olympic Year 2024 meet even excellent-er..

The Olympic Trials and Olympic Games will soon follow...Epic achievements await....but epic disappointments await, too...Only a few

 will step to the podium...Such is life, such is all of sport....My advice to all:  Love that journey.  Make it nothing more, nothing less..

We've already circled Sunday Nov. 24 as the date of our "90's Gala."  - a grand re-convening of friends and folks and good people for some 

 good food. some good beverages, some good times....and some look-backs at the events that have put wide smiles on all our faces,all these

years....The "85's Gala" in '85 was a great event...Let's make the "90's Gala" five years better...

 I've had some health challenges but all well now  (from the neck up, anyway.) 

Need some good folks, of course, to step up and make all these things happen...

  Thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you to all share such visions and can get things done,,

The passings of Al and Knute have stirred me to write all this, in the wee hours of the morning,,

Just wanted to share it all this with you.

Best to all..

Keep on smiling...

Keep on keeping-on.

Elliott Denman

Al Cantello,

Briefly I did once meet Al Cantello somewhere in Ohio, but I cannot remember the specific occasion.  He was probably on a recruiting trip.  This was most likely in the 1990's.  His attire was what you would see on coaches back in the 50's and 60's,  quality threads, sport jacket, pressed pants, tie, and hat, shoes shined.  It drew memories of Oliver Jackson, Bill Easton, Bill Carroll, Jumbo Elliott.  My high school coach in Dayton,  Ed Jones, had a son Brian who pole vaulted at Navy and so knew Al.  It was Ed who made the introduction.  I cannot remember the verbal exchange.

The following obituary/bio is taken from usnavysports.com

Story Links

ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Albert Anthony Cantello Sr. (Al), a legendary cross country and track & field coach whose tenure at the Naval Academy spanned 55 years, passed away on Jan. 17, surrounded by his daughters. Cantello was born on June 9, 1931, in Norristown, Pa. to Italian immigrants Michaelangelo Cantello and Cesarina Gaspari Cantello, Al was the third of five children.
 
Al's journey unfolded as an outstanding swimmer and diver during his youth. His true athletic calling was revealed through a chance encounter with javelin throwing in high school that led to a remarkable career on the Norristown High School Track and Field Team.
 
Upon high school graduation, neighborhood friend and decorated Olympic Swimmer, Joe Verduer, recognized Cantello's collegiate potential. With his encouragement, Al left his Norristown factory job and pursued higher education at La Salle University.  
 
Cantello was a standout member of the La Salle track & field team from 1951-55, where was a two-time All-American in the javelin. He was enshrined in La Salle's Hall of Athletes as a charter member, as well as the Middle Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame and Penn Relays Wall of Fame for his individual success.
 
Upon his graduation from La Salle, Al joined the Marine Corps, where he served for 10 years.  It was here that his life continued to thrive as his athleticism took him to countless meets around the world competing in continents he only dreamed about.  
 
A world-class competitor in the javelin throw, Cantello once held every national and international record in the event. In 1959, he set a world record in the javelin (282 feet 3 inches) and the following year he competed with the U.S. Olympic Team at the 1960 Games in Rome. In 1964, Sport magazine named Cantello to its all-time track and field team and voted him the world's greatest competitor in the javelin.
 
Cantello will go down in javelin history for having one of the most unique throwing styles in the history of the sport.  His versatility as an agile, all-around athlete became evident as he transitioned his diving and gymnastics talents into the nimble success behind his distinctive throwing style. As a smaller-sized thrower, standing at 5 '8", Al would "run up" to the throw and catapult his entire body into the air as the javelin took flight, generating heightened momentum for his instrument.
 
It was also during this period of competition that he was introduced and later married his wife Doris Jacqueline Brownlee (Jackie) in an intimate ceremony at Quantico, Virginia, 1960.   They would remain together, raising three kids, until her death in 2014. 
 
Cantello took a job at Methacton High School in his hometown of Norristown, where he applied his creative wordsmith talent and competitive spirit as both an English teacher and track & field coach.  
 
Cantello's life continued with possibility as he later accepted a coaching position at the Naval Academy. This marked the beginning of his coaching legacy.
 
Cantello, who retired from coaching on August 30, 2018, served as Navy's head cross country coach for 50 years.
 
During his time working with Midshipmen athletes, Cantello collected a combined 49 N-Star victories over Army as the head coach of cross country and track & field programs.
 
"Coach Cantello has influenced so many lives throughout his career, it is impossible to comprehend his influence on so many people," said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. "As an educator, coach, inspirational leader and friend, the legacy he leaves behind is immeasurable. Those privileged to have benefited from his insights, wisdom, and humor truly know how extraordinary he was as a husband, father and coach. Everybody has an Al Cantello story and those stories will be a cherished memory forever."
 
A legend in the field of cross country and track & field, Cantello took over the reins of the Navy men's cross country program from Jim Gehrdes in 1968. Only the fourth head coach in the storied 95 years of Navy men's cross country, Cantello almost immediately found success with the Mids and led the team to a shared 1972 Heptagonal Championship and a berth in the NCAA Championship meet. Competing at the Heptagonal Championships through 2002, Cantello and the Mids earned outright titles in 1974, 1992 and 1996. Overall, Navy finished in the top three on 21 occasions, including every year from 1978 through 1986 under Cantello's leadership.
 
After joining the Patriot League in 2003, Cantello and the Mids asserted their dominance on their new conference mates with four second-place finishes over the first-five years before running off eight Patriot League Championships in nine years from 2008 through 2016.
 
The program's success at the conference level carried over to the national scene with 12 total appearances at the NCAA Championships. Following the program's first NCAA appearance in 1972, the Mids competed at the 1974, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1997, 2016 and 2017 championships. The 1985 team recorded the highest finish for a Midshipmen squad, as they placed seventh overall in the nation.
 
Aside from Navy's postseason accolades, Cantello made sure the Mids were nearly always in line to check the Army-Navy Star box. Victorious at a 76.5 percent clip, Cantello led the Mids to 37 wins over the Black Knights in his 50 years in charge. The program's most successful run came between 1973 and 1986 when the team won 13 straight head-to-head contests versus its service academy rival.
 
Navy runners found a host of success with Cantello's guidance as 10 student-athletes earned All-America status in cross country and/or distance track events. Four of those Mids were multi-time All-Americans: Ronnie Harris (1985 – XC, 1987 – 3K and 5K); Greg Keller (1992 – Mile & Steeplechase, 1992 – XC, 1993- Mile & Steeplechase); Jon Clemens (1997 – Indoor 5K, 1997 – Outdoor 3K & Steeplechase) and John Mentzer (1997 – Indoor 5K, 1997 – Outdoor 10K, 1998 – Outdoor 10).
 
Additionally, Harris (1988, 1992, 1996) and Mentzer (2008) were two of the six Midshipmen to have competed at the United States Olympic Track & Field Trials under the direction of Cantello. James Dare (1968, 1972), Mark Newman (1996, 2000, 2004), Aaron Lanzel (2004) and Erik Schmidt (2004) make up the complete list of Cantello's Midshipmen distance athletes to have competed for the right to wear the Red, White and Blue in Olympic competition. Dare qualified for Team USA as an alternate in 1972, while Harris qualified for the team in 1996.
 
At the Patriot League level, three Midshipmen won the individual league championship a total of five times with Andrew Hanko finishing first in 2009 and 2010 and Lucas Stalnaker achieving the feat in 2015 and 2016. Steve Schroeder won the title in 2014.
 
A valued member of the track & field program, Cantello was an assistant coach with the Mids from 1968 through 1980 before taking over as head coach from 1981 to 1988. Beginning with the 1989 season, he moved back to an assistant coaching role. As the head coach of the Mids' track and field team, Cantello collected 12 N-Star victories over Army. Cumulatively, he won 49 N-Star wins over cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. Adding in 51 victories as an assistant coach, Cantello reached the 100-Star milestone with the men's 102-101 win at West Point on April 7, 2018.

As a result of his teams' success, Cantello was recognized as the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Cross Country Coach of the Year four times (1984, 1985, 1992, 2016), NCAA Mid-Atlantic Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010 and Patriot League Coach of the Year eight times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016). In December of 2013, he was inducted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame.
 
Residing in Annapolis from 1963 until his passing, Cantello leaves behind a rich tapestry of memories. Preceded in death by his parents, siblings, son Albert Anthony Cantello Jr., and his wife Jackie, Al's legacy lives on through the love he shared with his family and for his job. 
 
Let us remember the way Al illuminated a room with his quick wit, his passion for coaching, his commitment to the USNA track and cross country program, his undying passion for La Salle University, his fierce competitive spirit, and his profound love for his family.
 
Albert Cantello Sr. is survived by his daughters, Karla McMahon (Michael McMahon) and Karen O'Kane (Gerard O'Kane), daughter-in-law Nancy Cantello, and his cherished grandchildren: Charles Cantello, Samuel Cantello, Kellen McMahon, Koby McMahon, Kylie McMahon, Brendan O'Kane, and Audrey O'Kane.
 
A visitation to celebrate Albert Cantello Sr.'s life will be held on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Kalas Funeral Home (2973 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater, Md.), followed by a celebration Mass at St. John Neumann (320 Bestgate Road, Annapolis, Md.) on Thursday, February 1, 2024, at 10:30 am. There will be a reception following the funeral in the Vice Admiral Lawrence N* Room at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
 

Wikipedia outlines Knute Hjeltnes' career

Knut Hjeltnes (8 December 1951 – 17 January 2024) was a Norwegian college coach and track and field athlete.

Biography[edit]

Hjeltnes, who was born in Øystese, won 20 Norwegian national championships: 11 in discus throw, in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980–84, 1986, 1988, and 1989; and 9 in shot put, in 1975–1978 and 1980–1984.

Hjeltnes was ranked 2nd through 7th in the world in the discus for twelve years from 1976 to 1988.^[1] He still holds the Norwegian national record in discus with 69.62 meters (228 feet, 5 inches), achieved in 1985.^[2] He also had a personal best shot put of 20.55 meters (67 feet, 5 inches), achieved in 1980.^[3]

Hjeltnes was a four-time Olympian in the discus (1976, 1980-boycott, 1984, 1988). His best Olympic placings were 4th place in 1984 and 7th place in 1976 and 1988. He narrowly missed the podium in 1984, throwing only 18 cm short of John Powell's bronze medal throw. His best World Championship placing was 9th in 1983. His best European Championship placing was 4th in 1986.

Hjeltnes attended Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College),^[4] Penn State University, and Brigham Young University. He earned multiple All-American accolades in shot put and discus while attending Western Maryland and Penn State. While attending BYU, he was coached by Jay Silvester, an American discus legend and former world record holder.

Hjeltnes was ranked #36 on the world all-time list for discus.^[5] As a masters-level athlete, he has an all-time world ranking of 8th in the men's 35-39 age class.^[6]

Hjeltnes coached at the NCAA Division I level for about 20 years, producing a number of All-Americans and conference champions. Hjeltnes coached athletes at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY from 1999 until 2013. While coaching at USMA West Point, his athletes produced 40 Patriot League Championships, 3 NCAA All-Americans, 30 NCAA Regional Qualifiers, and 2 Academic All-Americans.^[7] Hjeltnes was hired as the throws coach at Auburn University in 2013.^[8][9] He retired from full-time coaching at the end of the 2016 outdoor season.

Hjeltnes tested positive for anabolic steroids at Oslo's Bislett Stadium on July 6, 1977, and at the European Cup in Helsinki in August, 1977, and was suspended "indefinitely." The suspension was reduced to one year on appeal, allowing him to participate in the 1978 European Championships.^[10] He continued to compete internationally for another 10 years and was doping-tested at all national and international competitions more than 100 times throughout his career. He was the first Norwegian ever to test positive. Hjeltnes publicly admitted to doping and claimed that almost everybody at the Olympic level used some form of doping during the 1970s. Knut also cooperated with Jan Hedenstad to write a book, called Dopet ("Doped"), published in 1979 (ISBN 8205120021).^[11]

Hjeltnes died on 17 January 2024, at the age of 72.^[12]

V 14 N. 5 Shawn Barber Former World Pole Vault Champion Dies at Age 29 R.I.P.

 January 18, 2024

                                    

Shawn Barber, born Shawnacy Campbell Barber, the Canadian-American former world pole vault champion died January 17 at his home in Kinwood, Texas.  It was noted that he had been in bad health recently but no cause of death has been announced.  Barber, born in the US, but whose father is a Canadian citizen, chose to compete for Canada during his career.  He was an All-American at the University of Akron.  

Barber last competed at the Olympic level in 2016 in Rio finishing in 10th place.  However he won and placed high in numerous major championships over the years.  

The CBC reported as follows:  "Barber was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, but held dual Canadian-American citizenship as his father, George, was born in Kincardine, Ont. The family split time between the U.S. and Canada, specifically Toronto."

"He is the Canadian record holder in the men's pole vault at 6.00 metres (19'  8 1/4")  , which he set in January 2016. Barber won the 2015 world championships in Beijing, China, with a mark of 5.90 (19' 4 1/4"). The victory was Canada's first athletics world title in 12 years at the time, and its first-ever worlds pole vault medal."

"He is the Canadian record holder in the men's pole vault at 6.00 metres, which he set in January 2016. Barber won the 2015 world championships in Beijing, China, with a mark of 5.90. The victory was Canada's first athletics world title in 12 years at the time, and its first-ever worlds pole vault medal."

"That came just a month after claiming the third of his five Canadian titles and Pan American Games gold in Toronto."

"Piotr Lisek, who won bronze at the 2015 worlds, called Barber one of the best pole vaulters in the world in a post on X in Polish and posted pictures of them together on the podium."

                                           

"He also won the NCAA outdoor title in 2015 for the University of Akron, earning the second of back-to-back indoor titles that season. Barber won one of his five Canadian titles that year as well."

"Akron's athletics department called Barber "a well-liked teammate and competitor,"

"A year later, Barber made the final at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics in a pole vault event won by Thiago Braz of Brazil, finishing 10th."

"His resumé also includes bronze and silver medals from the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, respectively."

"He's survived by his mother, Ann; father, George; and brother, David.HIs father, George Barber, competed for Canada in pole vault at the 1983 world championships."

"Barber tested positive for traces of cocaine in a drug test before the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport had proposed a four-year ban from competition, but Barber wasn't suspended and instead was stripped of his 2016 national title."

"This has been a learning experience for Shawn, he is a young athlete learning how to compete on the field of play, and prepare away from it," Athletics Canada said in a statement at the time."

"He was permitted to compete in Brazil after it was determined he inadvertently ingested the banned substance."

"According to the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) report, Barber ingested the cocaine on July 8, the night before he won the Canadian title in Edmonton, in a sexual encounter with a woman."

"The woman testified that she consumed cocaine before she met Barber and then again in the bathroom of his hotel room. She said at his hearing that he could not have known she'd used the drug."

"The court ruled that Barber, who called the positive test "a complete shock," had unknowingly ingested the drug through kissing."

"Barber came out as gay in an April 2017 Facebook post."

"He stated: "Gay and proud! Thank you to my parents for being such a great support. I continue to grow as a person and have a great support group. My parents are my greatest support and have helped me through a lot recently. To my friends, you are always my friends and I love you too!"

"Barber last competed in 2020."

V 14 N. 4 Jerry Dyes , Abilene Christian University All American R.I.P.

 January 17, 2024

                                                           Jerry Dyes at Penn Relays?

We just received the following note from L.J. Cohen:

With deep sadness, I’m reporting the passing of an athletic legend and Coach.
Jerry Dyes passed away January 15.  He was my high school coach in 1965 at WB Ray HS. His first year coaching, we won the Texas state championship, had best time in the country in the mile and sprint relay, and to top it off, his first son was born. I’m forwarding a tribute obituary from his alma mater, Abilene Christian University.

From 2012 here is a piece we wrote about Jerry Dyes:

Jerry Dyes from Once Upon a Time in the Vest   link

Jerry's obituary posted by Abilene Christian.