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November 25, 2020
Brown, McCormack earn Throwback Athlete of the Week honors
INDIANAPOLIS -- 1960 bronze medalist and three-time Olympian
Earlene Brown
was selected as the winner of the 35th USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting American records in the women’s shot put and discus on November 17, 1956, and masters competitor
Tom McCormack
also earned recognition for his men’s 60-64 12K road record in 2014. In the absence of regular competition during the Covid-19 pandemic, we are taking a weekly look back at some of the great efforts by American track and field athletes through the years.
Brown was the top thrower in the U.S. in the late 1950s and early 1960s and was the only American woman to win an Olympic medal in the shot put until Michelle Carter took gold at Rio in 2016. At a pre-Olympic meet in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, she set American records in the shot put (14.92m/48-11.5) and discus (46.94m/154-0), bettering her own AR’s in each event. Brown went on to place sixth in the shot and fourth in the discus at the ‘56 Games, before moving onto the podium with a bronze at Rome in 1960. She added a sixth-place finish in the discus there and closed out her Olympic career with a 12th-place effort in the shot at Tokyo in 1964.
A double gold medalist in the two throws at the 1959 Pan American Games, Brown won eight career national titles in the shot and three in the discus. Her shot PR of 16.69m/54-9.25 stood as the AR until 1974, and she had a lifetime best of 53.91m/176-10 in the discus. Brown set 13 American records in the shot and discus in her career.
After retiring from track and field, Brown took up Roller Derby and was a defensive blocker for the New York Bombers. She retired from Roller Derby in 1975 and was a beautician until her death at age 47 in 1983. Brown was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2005.
McCormack set a masters men’s 60-64 age group 12K road record on November 16, 2014, at Alexandria, Virginia, clocking 42:50 to outrun Rick Becker and chop 11 seconds from his own AR. The duo ran side by side through the first half of the race before McCormack started to pull away, and the 61-year-old East Tennessee State grad averaged just under 5:45 per mile for the distance.
Now in its 19th year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on USATF.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.
2020 Winners: January 9, Miranda Melville; January 16, Paul Perry; January 23, Natosha Rogers; January 30, Tyler Day, February 6, Devin Dixon; February 13, Elle Purrier; February 20, Tori Franklin; February 27, Sandi Morris; March 4, Abdi Abdirahman; March 12 Marielle Hall; March 19, Tim Tollefson; April 2, Louise Ritter; April 9, Francie Larrieu Smith; April 16, Erin Gilreath; April 23, Suzy Powell; April 30, Joe Dial; May 7, Dawn Ellerbe; May 14, Ramona Pagel; May 21, Brian Oldfield; May 28, Jackie Joyner-Kersee; June 4, Jesse Owens; June 11, Mary Decker Slaney; June 18, Leroy Burrell; June 25, Sandra Farmer-Patrick; July 2, Jim Ryun; July 9, Evelyn Ashford; July 16, Wilma Rudolph & Shelby Houlihan; July 23, Pat Daniels & Ryan Crouser; July 30, Michael Norman & Mildred “Babe” Didriksen; August 6, Valarie Allman & Parry O’Brien; August 13, Sara Hall & Kevin Young; August 20, Justin Robinson & Jackie Joyner-Kersee; August 27, Donavan Brazier & Renaldo Nehemiah; September 3, Ryan Crouser & Mike Powell; September 10, Ryan Crouser & Wilma Rudolph; September 17, Rudy Winkler & Kate Schmidt; September 24, Ryan Crouser & Jay Silvester; October 1, Payton Chadwick & Carl Lewis; October 8, Sara Hall & Florence Griffith Joyner; October 15, Shadrack Kipchirchir & Johnny J. Kelley; October 22, Katie Thronson & Billy Mills; October 29, Jaci Smith & Joan Benoit Samuelson; November 5, Molly Huddle & Julie Brown; November 12, Tierney Wolfgram & Hal Connolly; November 19, Lon Myers; November 26, Earlene Brown & Tom McCormack.
We welcome your nominations!
To nominate an athlete for USATF Athlete of the Week, please send a detailed email about his/her performance to
communications@usatf.org
.
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