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October 22, 2020
Thronson, Mills earn Athlete of the Week honors
INDIANAPOLIS -- Tennessee’s
Katie Thronson
(Spokane, Washington) won the UAB Blazer Classic and was overwhelmingly voted USATF Athlete of the Week in a fan poll, while
Billy Mills
was selected by fans as the winner of the 30th USATF Throwback Athlete of the Week award for setting an American record in the men’s 10,000m on October 14, 1964. 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.
Thronson, a junior who was third in the USATF U20 Championships 3,000m in 2019, won her second race as a collegian, taking top honors at a strong UAB meet that featured top-ranked Arkansas among other teams. Covering the 6K course at Birmingham’s Veterans Park in 20:13.2, Thronson beat runner-up Jenna Gearing of Kentucky by three seconds. She was seventh at the halfway point, tucked into a large lead pack, and she moved up to second by the 5K mark. Thronson’s final kilometer was the fastest by far of most of that lead group as she and Gearing pulled away.
Mills became an instant legend after his Olympic gold in Tokyo. Described as the greatest upset in Olympic history, his victory in the 10,000 meters at the 1964 Games will remain an indelible memory for anyone who saw his thrilling stretch run as he wove through a field of lapped runners and finally passed the race favorites, Ron Clarke and Mohamed Gammoudi, breaking the tape in 28:24.4 to chop more than 25 seconds off the existing American record.
An Oglala Sioux Native American, Mills took up distance running while attending the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas. He soon dropped his original goal of becoming a boxer and concentrated on running instead. At the University of Kansas under Hall of Fame coach Bill Easton, he was an All-American in cross country in both 1958 and 1959.
After graduating from Kansas, he became a lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and finished second to Gammoudi in the 1963 interservice 10,000m run in Brussels, Belgium. The following year, he finished second to Gerry Lindgren in the 10,000 meters at the Olympic Trials. His greatest race awaited him in Tokyo. After winning the 10,000, Mills placed 14th in the Olympic marathon. The following year, Mills set a world six-mile record, running 27:11.6 in a tie with Lindgren at the AAU Nationals.
Mills later became active in Native American affairs and in 1972 was named one of America's "Outstanding Young Men." A 1984 movie titled "Running Brave" was made of his life. In 1986 he co-founded
Running Strong for American Indian Youth
, a charitable organization that assists Native American communities and encourages self-sufficiency and pride in their heritage. President Barack Obama awarded Mills the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2012 for his work.
Elected to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1976, Mills was also inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984. He and his wife, Patricia, have been married for 58 years.
Other historical performances of note from the October 12-18 period in USATF history:
October 13 — Bill Dellinger American record in men’s 5000m, 14:25.5 at Berkeley, California in 1956
October 15 — Wyomia Tyus World record in women’s 100m, 11.08 at Mexico City in 1968
October 16 — Tommie Smith World record in men’s 200m, 19.83 at Mexico City in 1968
October 17 — Barbara Ferrell American record in women’s 200m, 22.87 at Mexico City in 1968
October 18 — Bob Beamon World record in men’s LJ, 8.90m/29-2.5 at Mexico City in 1968
October 18 — Lee Evans World record in men’s 400m, 43.86 at Mexico City in 1968
Other notable performances from the past week included:
Whittni Orton of Brigham Young University won the women’s 6K race at the Oklahoma State Invitational in Stillwater by almost 11 seconds to lead the Cougars to the team title with 22 points.
Haftu Knight of Texas won the men’s 8K race at the Arturo Barrios Invitational at Texas A&M to lead the Longhorns to the team title with 18 points.
Rohann Asfaw led his Virginia men’s squad to a home team title at the Panorama Farms Invitational with a 23:52.5 for 8K.
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.
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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