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Athlete Bio

Cordner Nelson

Basic Information

Status: Hall of Fame Gender: Male Date of Birth: 8/6/1918

Athletics Information

Agent: N/A

Residences

Hometown: San Diego, CA College: University of the Pacific

In 1948, Cordner Nelson and his 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 continues to be a reporter for the magazine. During his years with T&FN, Nelson covered every Olympic Games from 1952 through 2000 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 rankings are widely 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. Nelson's publishing writings include The Jim Ryun Story, Runners and Races, The Great Ones, The Milers, Track's Greatest Champions and The Advanced Running Book.

Occupations

Publisher
Writer

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