Has a WR holder ever died while still maintaining their record?

Yes. No, not cool.

TJer João Carlos de Oliveira came close. He had a horrible car wreck while retired but still record holder. lost a leg or something.

Flo Jo.

Deal with the Devil.

xxxxx wrote:

Flo Jo.

Deal with the Devil.

My first thought as well.

Flo Jo

Flo Jo

Pre must have had a few?

I think Steve Prefonatine might have.

Perhaps some of the pre-WWII or WWI WR holders who died during the war.

Rudolf Harbig died in 1944 and his 800m record stool until 1955.

Pre never set a world record. He held many American records at the time of his death, of course (2000m - 10,000m excluding steeple).

Pre:

3000m 7:42.6 (broken in 1979 by Rudy Chapa)

2miles 8:18.3 (broken in 1976 by Marty Liquori)

5000m 13:21.9 (broken in 1976 by Duncan Macdonald)

10000m 27:43.6 (broken in 1979 by Craig Virgin)

He also held the 2000m and 6mile records at the time of his death.

------------------------------------------

Flo Jo is still on the books for 4 records.

-----------------------------------------

Ray Ewry set the record in the standing high jump in about 1901. It was soon discontinued and he probably died holding the record.

-----------------------------------------

Nearest to joining the club:

Rick Wohlhuter is now 66 and his 1k record from 1974 is still on the books.

stateroftheoblivious wrote:

Ray Ewry set the record in the standing high jump in about 1901. It was soon discontinued and he probably died holding the record.

ks.

My first thought was discontinued distances and events.

Can plan to add Koch and Kratochvílová to the list, nobody near times, and druggies have a tendency to die younger.

Guerrouj almost died from EPO on the track one day

His blood was so thick the heart couldn't pump it

Doesn't count though

Hard to believe you die hard fans don't know what WR means. Hint: America is not the whole World.

I did some research on the men's side and could not find any from the modern era. I did find 3 athletes who took their records to the grave though. The following info was found through Wikipedia. I have included the interesting stuff down below.

Ralph Rose, USA - Shot Put WR of 15.54m (51'0") set in 1909. Died of Typhoid Fever in 1913; his record lasted until 1928.

Rose won 3 medals in the 1904 Olympics as a University of Michigan student. He was the gold medallist in Shot Put, the silver medallist in Discus, and the bronze medallist in the Hammer.

He followed that up with another gold in the Shot Put in '08 as well as a win in the two-handed Shot Put in '12 (he won silver in the regular Shot Put). Rose was selected as the USA flagbearer for the '08 London games and caused some controversy when he refused to dip the flag to the Royal Box.

Gunnar Hockert, Finland - 3000m WR of 8:14.8 set in 1936. Died during the Winter War on 2/11/40; his record lasted until 8/14/40.

In addition to his 3000m WR, Hockert was the 1936 gold medallist over 5000m. He employed the ever-popular sit and kick strategy, never leading until the latter stages of the race. His winning time was 14:22.2.

1936 was his only successful season as he succumbed to rheumatism and was unable to regain his top form. Despite his condition, he volunteered for the Winter War and was eventually killed in battle.

Rudolf Harbig, Germany - 400m WR of 46.0 set in 1939, 800m WR of 1:46.6 set in 1939, 1000m WR of 2:21.5 set in 1941. Died in 1944 during WWII; his 400m record lasted until 1948, his 800m record lasted until 1955, his 1000m record lasted until 1946.

Harbig set his 400m and 800m records on a 500m track, but they were still recognized at the time. His 800m record was the most impressive as it lasted for 16 years.

During his 800m record run, he used a stunning sprint finish to seal the deal. He entered the final 125m straightaway trailing his Italian rival, Mario Lanzi. However, he used a blistering kick to get the win 1:46.6 - 1:49.0.

Harbig fought for Nazi Germany during WWII and died on the eastern front in Ukraine in 1944.

Ralph Rose died in 1918, but his 15.54m shot put WR from 1909 was broken in 1928 by Emil Hirschfeld (GER) with 15.79

Ben L Wrong wrote:

Ralph Rose died in 1918, but his 15.54m shot put WR from 1909 was broken in 1928 by Emil Hirschfeld (GER) with 15.79

C'mon, man!