If you were a child of the 1950's and 60's in the track and field world then you were aware of a lean Frenchman named Michel Jazy. He ran in some of the great races of those times, namely the 1960 Olympic 1500 meters final where he finished second to Herb Elliott who broke the World Record in that race and four years later in the Tokyo finals of the 5,000 meters where he finished to him a very disappointing fourth to Bob Schul, Harold Norpoth, and Bill Dellinger, with a young Kip Keino close behind.
Michel Jazy was 87 years old when he died. He was the son of Polish immigrants to France. His father worked in coal mines. He only became a French citizen at age 18. He worked as a typesetter or linotype operator. After the 1960 defeat at the hands of Elliott, he went on to break Elliott's World Record running 3:53.6.
He was born in France in 1936 a Polish citizen and only got French citizenship in 1955. His early life was not an easy one, and in those days we often thought that great middle distance and distance runners did not come from rich families. His story backs that theory. Wikipedia describes it thus:
Jazy was born into a poor coal-mining family from Poland. His grandfather, together with his wife and their daughter, emigrated from Poland to France after World War I. They settled in Oignies. Michel's grandfather worked as a coal miner in nearby Ostricourt. Michel's father was also a coal miner, whereas Michel's mother worked in a brewery in Lille. Michel was raised by his grandmother during much of his childhood. He was 12 years old when his father died of silicosis. When Michel was 14 years old, he, his mother (Marianne Jazy) and his older sister (Alfreda) settled in Paris. Marianne worked as a waitress in a café in Montmartre. Marianne remarried; her new husband, a truck driver, moved the family into a 10-by-12-foot (3 × 4 m), one-room apartment on Rue Rodier in Montmartre. Michel was passionate about football when he was a schoolboy. As a schoolboy, he would spend hours daily playing football. Michel left school at the age of 14 and became a uniformed doorman and elevator operator at a bridge club near the Arc de Triomphe. At 16 he became an apprentice in a neighborhood printshop.[5][6]
World records[edit]
Between 1961 and 1966, Jazy set nine world records over the following distances:
- mile (once)[9]
- time of 3:53.6 minutes on 9 June 1965 in Rennes
- 2000 metres (twice)[9]
- time of 5:01.6 minutes on 14 June 1962 in Paris
- time of 4:56.2 minutes on 12 October 1966 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
- 3000 metres (twice)[9]
- time of 7:49.2 minutes on 27 June 1962 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés
- time of 7:49.0 minutes on 23 June 1965 in Melun
- 2 miles (twice)[9]
- 4×1500 metres relay (twice)[5]
- time of 15:04.2 minutes on 28 June 1961 in Versailles (the other members of the relay team were Michel Bernard, Robert Bogey and Jean Clausse)
- time of 14:49.0 minutes on 25 June 1965 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés (the other members of the relay team were Claude Nicolas, Gérard Vervoort and Jean Wadoux)
Personal bests[edit]
- 800 metres: 1:47.1 minutes (1962)
- 1500 metres: 3:36.3 minutes (1966)
- mile: 3:53.6 minutes in Rennes in 1965 (This was a world record that was broken in July 1966 by Jim Ryun. It remained the European mile record until it was broken by Eamon Coghlan in 1975)[11]
- 2000 metres: 4:56.2 minutes in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in 1966 (This was a world record that was broken only in June 1976 by John Walker.)
- 3000 metres: 7:49.0 minutes in Melun in 1965 (This was a world record that was broken only six weeks later by Siegfried Herrmann.)
- 2 miles: 8:22.6 minutes in Melun in 1965 (This was a world record that was broken in July 1967 by Ron Clarke.)
- 5000 metres: 13:27.6 minutes (1965)
- 4×1500 metres relay (Michel Jazy, Claude Nicolas, Gérard Vervoort and Jean Wadoux): 14:49.0 minutes in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés in 1965 (This was a world record and Jazy ran the third leg of the relay race.)
Jazy prepping with a 2:53 1200 meters in Tokyo 1964
Schul about to overtake Jazy at Tokyo
Schul consoling Jazy after the race
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