USATF Pop Quiz
By Hal Bateman, USATF historian
For the week of March 18
Q. What U.S. Olympic sprint champion later represented the U.S. in Olympic
yachting competition?
Answer
A. Ralph Craig of the University of Michigan won the 1912 Olympic 100 meters
and later was a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic yachting team. Craig was also
the U.S. flagbearer at the 1948 Games.
REMEMBER WHEN - From Indoor to Outdoor
March is a transition month for track and field, when the action moves from
the tight confines of indoor tracks to the wider expanses of 400-meter outdoor
ovals. For many years, almost 100 to be exact, indoor track was treated as a
stepchild to its outdoor version.
That all changed at Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 6-8, 1987, when the first
IAAF World Indoor Championships were held at the RCA Dome. Two of the meets
highlights were womens world records by Heike Drechsler of Germany in the 200
meters (22.27) and Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria in the high jump
(6-8.75/2.05m). But that meet represented more than just championships and
performances. It also brought indoor track into the mainstream of the track and
field community. Prior to 1987, indoor world records fell under the "world
indoor best" category. Starting in 1987, indoor records were officially
recognized by the IAAF. Thus another chapter was written in the long history of
the sport.
