Very sad story. He volunteered coaching at several schools including my middle school when I was there.
Talked to someone who watched him run and said he is the best there ever was.
His 8:05 college steeple record may never be broken and he could have broken it at Hayward but Chaplin shut him down because he didn’t want it to happen at Oregon.
Why is that? Is there some superstition going on?
“Never one to pass up a chance to jab a finger in Oregon’s eye, Chaplin famously slowed down Rono during a steeplechase in Eugene, because he didn’t want him to set the record there. Recalling the event now, Chaplin said a meet official and friend told him the Oregon steeplechase pit was too shallow, and a record wouldn’t have counted. At the time, Chaplin, simmering after a sportswriter asked him if Rono could read or write, told the Oregon writer, in no uncertain terms, that Oregon fans didn’t deserve a world record. “And besides, we were going to set it in Washington,” Chaplin said.”
Jesse Owens. Fell from 4 time Gold Medalist to racing horses in county fairs in just a few months. Shameful.
#1 Jesse Owens was a sprinter.
#2 What the heck was he supposed to do in the 1930s? Making money in Track & Field was next to impossible.
#3 Please fight for the pioneers, do not disrespect them. It is very possible that Jesse Owens and Paavo Nurmi if born in later years might have been the best of all time in their event!
“Never one to pass up a chance to jab a finger in Oregon’s eye, Chaplin famously slowed down Rono during a steeplechase in Eugene, because he didn’t want him to set the record there. Recalling the event now, Chaplin said a meet official and friend told him the Oregon steeplechase pit was too shallow, and a record wouldn’t have counted. At the time, Chaplin, simmering after a sportswriter asked him if Rono could read or write, told the Oregon writer, in no uncertain terms, that Oregon fans didn’t deserve a world record. “And besides, we were going to set it in Washington,” Chaplin said.”
Chaplin? Do you really mean Rudy Chapa? WoW, this opens up all kinds of dirt.
Most of the top candidates fit into one of three categories: dopers, died young, or had a tragic accident/injury. Given there are so many athletes in these three categories, I will put forth an athlete outside: Henry Rono. Set four world records in 81 days, one of the greatest stretches in the history of the sport, but fell deep into alcoholism after that and spent the next years of his life in and out of rehab centers and homelessness.
Very sad story. He volunteered coaching at several schools including my middle school when I was there.
Talked to someone who watched him run and said he is the best there ever was.
His 8:05 college steeple record may never be broken and he could have broken it at Hayward but Chaplin shut him down because he didn’t want it to happen at Oregon.
No one has fallen farther than salazar, no. Suzy Hamilton is second. Mary Decker might be third although that one isn't really fair.
Remember this one? When all-time great Ed Moses was arrested for soliciting a prostitute and possession of marijuana at the height of his fame.
"Edwin Moses , the two-time Olympic gold medalist and one of track and field's biggest stars, was arrested in Los Angeles early Sunday on charges of soliciting a female police officer for prostitution and was later released on his own recognizance. The 29-year-old Moses was one of 82 men arrested in a Hollywood prostitution sweep by the police, who said that he had also had a small amount of marijuana in his possession."
Yes, and he happened to be black and extremely successful.
Jesse Owens. Fell from 4 time Gold Medalist to racing horses in county fairs in just a few months. Shameful.
That was because the AAU saw black athletes as little more than racing animals.
To cash in on his gold medal the AAU ordered him to compete in 6 races in 7 days. He said no. They suspended him. He did end up running against horses in county fairs.
He didn't fall from grace. He was pushed. By white men.
Jemima Sumgong: first Kenyan woman Olympic marathon winner. Symbol of national pride, given a Presidential welcome by Uhuru Kenyatta.
EPO+ created a blow to Kenyan national pride and became a source of disillusionment for aspiring athletes as well as a jarring narrative of deception and betrayal.
“Never one to pass up a chance to jab a finger in Oregon’s eye, Chaplin famously slowed down Rono during a steeplechase in Eugene, because he didn’t want him to set the record there. Recalling the event now, Chaplin said a meet official and friend told him the Oregon steeplechase pit was too shallow, and a record wouldn’t have counted. At the time, Chaplin, simmering after a sportswriter asked him if Rono could read or write, told the Oregon writer, in no uncertain terms, that Oregon fans didn’t deserve a world record. “And besides, we were going to set it in Washington,” Chaplin said.”
Chaplin? Do you really mean Rudy Chapa? WoW, this opens up all kinds of dirt.
No, he absolutely did not mean Rudy Chapa. John Chaplin was Henry's coach at Washington State. He was one of the pioneers, I suppose you could call him, of recruiting more or less ready made Kenyans for your college team. If you talked about him with Henry, and I did, you'll hear that, to use the terminology of this thread, Henry did not so much fall from grace as he had Chaplin pushing him from it. Henry described Chaplin as evil personified. In fairness to Chaplin he had other Kenyans running for him and one of them had the 10,000 world record that Henry broke. I've never heard of any of them having the struggles in life that Henry did but I've never heard anything about any of them once they left WSU. But in fairness to Henry, you can get some fairly ugly stories about Chaplin from some US athletes about their dealings with Chaplin from his days as an administrator wirh USATF or TAC or the AAU, whatever it was called at the time, once he left coaching.
Tim Danielson - sub four-minute mile in high school, never broke four minutes again, murdered his ex-wife and now sits in prison for the rest of his life.
Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win a LetsRun t-shirt.Help us build the best running shoe review site for a chance to win one of 10 LetsRun t-shirts.