Track & Field News co-founder Cordner Nelson dies

INDIANAPOLIS - National Track & Field Hall of Famer and co-founder of Track & Field News magazine Cordner Nelson died peacefully in his sleep from the effects of cancer Monday at his home in Carmel, Calif. He was 91.

In 1948, Cordner and his younger brother Bert (also in the Hall of Fame) began publishing Track & Field News. Over the years, the magazine earned the soubriquet "The Bible of the Sport." Nelson served as editor through 1969 and continued to be a reporter for the magazine.

During his years with T&FN, Nelson covered every Olympic Games from 1952 through 2004 as well as AAU, USATF and NCAA championships and U.S. Olympic Trials starting in 1948. Concurrent with the publication of T&FN, Nelson originated world ranking procedures. Today, the annual T&FN rankings are accepted worldwide as the most authentic ranking of international athletes.

Long before the advent of technical publications in the U.S., Nelson researched and wrote on the subject of technique in the sport. He introduced to the U.S. many of the advanced training methods used in Europe. His interest in the literature of training, technique and theory eventually led to the founding of Track Technique in 1960 (now published as Track Coach). Nelson's published writings include The Jim Ryun Story, Runners and Races, The Great Ones, The Milers, Track's Greatest Champions and The Advanced Running Book.

In July of 2008, nearly 200 of Nelson's friends joined him at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., for a gala 90th birthday celebration. It was the last track meet Nelson attended. Nelson was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1988. Bert Nelson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991, died on January 9, 1994.

No services will be held, at Cordner Nelson's wishes.