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Back to Athlete Bios
Athlete Bio

Steve Scott

Basic Information

Status: Hall of Fame Gender: Male Date of Birth: 5/5/1956

Athletics Information

Event: Outdoor Track & Field Agent: N/A

Residences

Hometown: Upland, California High School: Upland (Upland, California), 1974 College: California Irvine (Irvine, California), 1978

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2x

National Indoor champion

1x

World Championships Silver medallist

1x

NCAA champion

The model of consistently as a middle-distance runner, Steve Scott ran 136 sub-4-minute miles in his career, more than any other athlete in the world. While at the University of California at Irvine, Scott broke 4 minutes for the first time in the mile and achieved the first of his eight consecutive rankings as the top miler in the U.S. Overall, Track & Field News ranked Scott #1 in the U.S. on 10 occasions and 11 times placed him in the top-10 milers worldwide. The NCAA 1500m champion as a senior at California-Irvine, Scott also won the U.S. men's 1500m title six times and the U.S. indoor mile crown four times. He won the 1980 Olympic Trials, but the U.S. boycott of the Games kept Scott from competing in Moscow. He competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, finishing 10th and fifth, respectively. Scott was the silver medalist in the 1500 meters at the inaugural IAAF World Championships in 1983. He set three U.S. records, running the outdoor mile in 3:47.69 in 1982; and the still-standing records in the indoor mile in 3:51.8 in 1981 and the indoor 2000 meters in 4:58.6, also in 1981.

Scott has been at the helm of the Cal State San Marcos cross country and track & field programs since 1999.

Events
1,500 m - 3:31.76
1 mi. - 3:47.69
2,000 m - 4:54.71
3,000 m - 7:36.69
5,000 m - 13:30.39

Records Held
American Record: 1 mi. - 3:51.80
American Record: 1 mi. - 3:47.69 (July 7, 1982 - July 7, 2007)
American Record: 2,000 m - 4:58.60

Championships
1984 Olympics: 1,500 m (10th)
1988 Olympics: 1,500 m (5th)
1983 World Outdoors: 1,500 m (2nd)

Occupations
Coach

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