Another Olympic landmark race for the USA but this time in the 1500 meter, also known as the metric mile.
Leonel Manzano (
far left, above) of the US blasted the last 70 meters for a
Silver, the first medal since
Jim Ryan's 1968 run in this event. A story you won't hear much about is
Matt Centrowitz Jr's 4th place finish (
2nd from front-left); the most painful position in the world. At 22 he may be back in four years. I dug deep in my old photo album to find a photo of me and his father,
Matt Centrowitz senior, a two time Olympian himself. For you New Yorkers, he was a multiple state champion, the first in NY to break 9 minutes for 2-miles, and still owns the 1500 state HS record of 3:43! The
below photo was taken when I was a HS freshmen at the biggest (to this day) cross country meet in the country - the
Manhattan Invitational. I recognized Centrowitz and Dillinger (his coach), sprinted across the field, and asked for a photo.
The famous
Bill Dellinger
took the photo and then posed with me while Centrowitz senior (a 13:11
5k in his day) got a shot of us. As a kid I was thrilled! I later went to the
adidas cross-country camp directed by Dellinger, who, it should be
noted, got a bronze medal in the 1964 Olympic 5k. He also trained
Salazar who currently coaches Rupp (see
recent post). Small world, really. Here is a
cool piece with photo on the Centrowitz father-son team.
