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Dr. J. on Running

USATF Hall of Fame Class of 2001

Lewis, Marsh, Myricks, Salazar

Published in The Post-Standard.

By Dr Kamal Jabbour, Contributing Writer

USATF announced the election of Carl Lewis, Larry Myricks, Henry Marsh and Alberto Salazar to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. Lewis and Myricks competed in the long jump and sprints, while Marsh and Salazar were distance runners. All four were part of the 1984 Olympic track and field team that won 40 medals in Los Angeles.

One of the greatest athletes of all-time, Carl Lewis won gold medals in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4x100m relay. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Lewis won the 100 meters and long jump, and in 1992 in Barcelona, he won the long jump and the 4x100 relay. In Atlanta in 1996, he won his fourth straight gold medal in the long jump. Lewis also won 10 medals, eight of them gold, at the World Outdoor Championships, the most by any athlete in the world.

Henry Marsh still holds the American record of 8:09:17 in the steeplechase, set in 1985. In 1976, Marsh finished second in the NCAA championship for Brigham Young University, second at the Olympic Trials and tenth at the Olympic Games. In 1979, he won the Pan American Games. He competed in the 1983 and 1987 World Championships, and the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. Marsh later became an attorney.

Larry Myricks became famous for his long jump duels with Carl Lewis. In 1976, he won the NCAA title for Mississippi College, and placed second at the US Olympic Trials. In 1979, he ranked first in the world and won the NCAA, USA and World Cup titles. He took fourth in 1984 Olympics and third in 1988. He was third at both the 1987 and 1991 World Championships, and the 200 meters at the 1983 World Championships.

Alberto Salazar was born in Cuba, and immigrated to the US at the age of 2. He ran on the University of Oregon's NCAA cross country championship team in 1977. Salazar reached his potential many years after graduation, winning six national distance titles and qualifying for two Olympic teams. He won the New York City Marathon in a hat trick in 1980-1982. He also won the 1982 Boston Marathon on a hot Patriot's day in a course record of 2:08:52, and in the process damaged his pituitary gland. This injury curtailed Salazar's running, so he turned to coaching and preaching. In 1994, Salazar celebrated his return to racing by winning the 53.8-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa.

The induction ceremony will take place on November 30 during USATF's 2001 Annual Meeting in Mobile, Alabama. The induction will bring to 188 the number of inductees into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, which will reopen in its new location at the 168th Street Armory in New York City in 2003.

Kamal Jabbour runs and writes on the hills of Pompey, New York. His RUNNING Column appears in The Post-Standard on Mondays. Dr.J. created TrackMeets.com, webcasting live Every Lap of Every Race. He receives email at jabbour@i2sports.com.


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