Editor's note: The NY Times has a lenghty obit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/07/obituaries/horace-ashenfelter-dead-olympic-steeplechase.html
RIP Horace Ashenfelter - America's only men's steeplechase champ has died at 94
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http://baristanet.com/2018/01/r-i-p-horace-ashenfelter-olympic-steeplechase-champion-glen-ridge/
Editor's note: The NY Times has a lenghty obit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/07/obituaries/horace-ashenfelter-dead-olympic-steeplechase.html -
Olympic steeplechase champion Horace Ashenfelter of Glen Ridge passed away Saturday, January 6, at the age of 94. Deemed a long shot in 1952, Ashenfelter’s win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Olympics in Helsinki was considered a surprise. Ashenfelter was the first American since James Lightbody in 1904 to win the Olympic steeplechase beating the favorite, Vladimir Kazantsev of the Soviet Union.
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I suspect most of the TR audience won't know who he was. I only know of him from reading about him, but his 1952 Olympic steeplechase victory was certainly one of, if not the, biggest US international distance running upsets. RIP.
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Penn State's Indoor track is named after him.
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1955 wrote:
I suspect most of the TR audience won't know who he was. I only know of him from reading about him, but his 1952 Olympic steeplechase victory was certainly one of, if not the, biggest US international distance running upsets. RIP.
Kind and gentle man, besides being a very good athlete. We used to chat at meets where he officiated. Never once let on to his running background (although I knew, having read about him in Track and Field News). Sad to see another great one pass. Also knew his son, who is a doctor and same personality. Great family. -
At 94 is he the longest-lived running gold medalist?
RIP the legend. -
YMMV wrote:
At 94 is he the longest-lived running gold medalist?
RIP the legend.
Two gold medalist have lived past 100:
Evelyn Pearl Furtsch, USA, April 17, 1914 – March 5, 2015 (100y 321d)
1932 OG 4x100 gold
Godfrey Lionel Rampling, GBR, 14 May 1909 – 20 June 2009 (100y 36d)
1936 OG 4x400 gold
Looks like oldest still living are:
Clifford Frederick Bourland, USA, (born January 1, 1921)
1948 OG 4x400 gold
William Harrison Dillard, USA, (born July 8, 1923)
1948 OG 100m gold
(do sprinters live longer than distance runners?) -
There was a thread about distance runner longevity recently, which I think 'disproved' the perception that sprinters live longer. I always thought that more robust sprinter body types made for longer lives, all other things being equal. I still do.
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ashenfelter worked for the fbi and kazantsev worked for the kgb.
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Why no front page for this guy, an Olympic champion?
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odd wrote:
ashenfelter worked for the fbi and kazantsev worked for the kgb.
That was awesome. The sport needs to enforce amateur rules again with a vengence. The sport desperately needs more dudes like Ashenfelter or Kawauchi, it does not need weirdos infusing themselves with carnitine of whatever before races. -
Yeah awesome, let's just not compensate people for dedicating their lives for your entertainment solely because you want to relive your Cold War fantasies .
On your L.Cartinine point, you really think soviets athletes weren't pumping their veins with god knows what? Doping isn't caused by the money in the sport, because there is barely any money to be made. Doping is linked to unethical people doing anything they can to be the best-the money is secondary, just like it was when soviets were doping their athletes to portray some sort of superiority in the amateur era. -
Amateurism was never a good idea. Ever.
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Actuary wrote:
(do sprinters live longer than distance runners?)
Abel Kiviat made it to 99 and Edvin Wide was 100. -
Gold medalist wrote:
Why no front page for this guy, an Olympic champion?
Give these non-historians a break. They are still learning. -
Of All The wrote:
Amateurism was never a good idea. Ever.
It was heck of a lot better than the professionalism that exists today. -
justthefacts wrote:
1955 wrote:
I suspect most of the TR audience won't know who he was. I only know of him from reading about him, but his 1952 Olympic steeplechase victory was certainly one of, if not the, biggest US international distance running upsets. RIP.
Kind and gentle man, besides being a very good athlete. We used to chat at meets where he officiated. Never once let on to his running background (although I knew, having read about him in Track and Field News). Sad to see another great one pass. Also knew his son, who is a doctor and same personality. Great family.
Very interesting sounds like a real gentleman as well as a great athlete. -
Rest in Peace sir
What a great accomplishment to have worn all these years
