Birthday: 01/26/17 Mile PR: 4:07.9 (indoors) - 1940
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 3:52.6 - 1939
High School: Torrance HS '35
Hometown: Torrance, CA
College: University of Southern California '40
Louis Zamperini qualified for the 1936 Berlin Olympics at the age of 19. He was the Olympic Trials co-champion at 5000 meters when he tied with then world record holder Don Lash. Zamperini went on to finish 8th at the 1936 Olympic Games 5000m in 14:46.8 with a sub-60 second final lap.
Zamperini's success on the track began in high school when he set a ratified U.S. high school Mile record of 4:21.2 on May 19, 1934, winning the Southern California Track & Field Championship at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; his HS Mile record lasted 19 years!
In 1938, Zamperini also set a national collegiate Mile record (4:08.3), which held up for fifteen years, earning him the nickname "Torrance Tornado". Louis was a two-time NCAA Mile champion at the University of Southern California (1938-39) and he also led USC to two NCAA Outdoor team titles in 1938-39.
Laura Hillenbrand's #1 best-selling book "Unbroken" (2010) tells the inspiring, unbelievable story of his life, his 47-day survival at sea after being shot down in the Pacific in 1943, and his horrific treatment in a Japanese POW camp during World War II. The big screen version of "Unbroken" was directed by Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie and opened nationwide to large crowds on Christmas Day 2014 and also received two Oscar nominations (cinematography and sound editing). After the war, Zamperini became a social worker and a popular inspirational speaker.
The follow-up movie "Unbroken: Path to Redemption" was released on September 14, 2018.
On July 2, 2014, Olympian and true American hero Louis Zamperini passed away at age 97 in Los Angeles.
FUN FACT: Zamperini's roommate at the 1936 Berlin Olympics was the great Jesse Owens who won 4 gold medals.
FUN FACT II: Louie was awarded three Purple Hearts, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Prisoner of War Medal for his WWII service.
FUN FACT III: On December 7, 1946, Torrance Airport was renamed Zamperini Field.
CBS Sunday Morning feature piece from 2014:
USC Trojan won consecutive outdoor Mile crowns from 1938-39, including meet record
From USTFCCCA
The final day’s track portion of the 1938 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships got started with one of the meet’s classic Mile races.
Returning was champion Charles Fenske of Wisconsin, but...
Read More comments
Six months after Seaman broke Zamperini’s long-standing high school record, the two began a casual acquaintance over the years.
By Jon Earnest, The Exponent
Former Reedley resident Bob Seaman and Louis Zamperini, the inspiration for “Unbroken,” always will be linked in the sport of track &...
Read More comments
High school Mile record holder and two-time NCAA Mile champion considered candidate to run first sub-4 minute Mile
By Evan Andrews, History.com
On December 25, Universal Pictures’ new film “Unbroken” is set to debut nationwide. Based upon the bestselling book by Laura Hillenbrand, the film...
Read More comments
A Q&A with actor Jack O'Connell, who had to master Louie Zamperini's flair for running on the big screen.
By Christine Fennessy, Runner's World
Jack O'Connell, 24, is the British actor who plays Louie Zamperini in Unbroken. The film, directed by Angelina Jolie, will be released on Christmas...
Read More comments
On eve of 'Unbroken' release, they reflect on their father's running, his thoughts on the movie and his dedication to sport.
By Christine Fennessy, Runner's World
Louie Zamperini’s life hits big screens everywhere on Christmas Day. The movie, Unbroken, is based on Laura Hillenbrand’s...
Read More comments
“I think as a human being, as a mother, as someone who works internationally, I needed desperately to know a man like Louis Zamperini in my life, to know that there is hope.” – director Angelina Jolie
By Tom Peck, The Independent
It is only in retrospect that the unconnected events of a life...
Read More comments
I feel him now among us, young again, his strong legs reaching and pushing, his great lungs drawing in the sweet air, his grand, bounding heart beating, beating, beating. Listen. You can hear his laughter.
By Daily Breeze
Eulogy for Louis Zamperini written by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of...
Read More comments
His resilience under unspeakable suffering as Japanese POW during World War II more than earned him every moment of this later heroic acclaim.
By Roger Robinson, Runner's World
Louis Zamperini, a 1936 U.S. Olympian at 5000 meters and the subject of the best-selling book Unbroken, has died at...
Read More comments
The amazing tale of Louis Zamperini remained untold on film for 56 years; "In the end, its message is one we all need now more than ever — the journey of a man finding his way through the darkness and into the light."
By John Horn, Los Angeles Times
OXENFORD, Australia — Angelina Jolie was...
Read More comments
Zamperini's inspirational story offers a bright light of hope for an often-troubled time.
Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, TODAY.com
Angelina Jolie was looking far and wide for dramatic inspiration, and all the time it was right outside her own front door.
Jolie is directing "Unbroken," the...
Read More comments
Biopic of high school Mile record holder, Olympian and WWII hero Louis Zamperini to hit theaters on Christmas Day 2014
By Amanda Bell, Yahoo Movies
In keeping with the current sense of nationalistic spirit Team USA has been tapping within many by way of Sochi, a first-look preview of Angelina...
Read More comments
Louis Zamperini, World War II hero, qualified for the 1936 Berlin Olympics at the age of 19; filming spring 2014; Christmas 2014 release
By Donna Littlejohn, Daily Breeze
With the leading man and a release date announced Wednesday, the long-awaited film "Unbroken" about Torrance icon Louis...
Read More comments
By Donna Littlejohn, Los Angeles Daily News
Talk about a made-for-Hollywood plot.
Encompassing the sweep of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, 47 days adrift in the Pacific evading sharks and the jarring brutality of two years in a Japanese POW camp, it's a story that plumbs the depths of one man's...
Read More comments
Running helped Zamperini foster the resilience he needed to endure captivity during WWII.
By Laura Hillenbrand, Runner's World
It was the spring of 1944, the height of World War II. In a Japanese torture camp, a captured American stood, ravaged by illness and shockingly emaciated, surrounded...
Read More comments
He was an Olympic athlete in Berlin where he met Hitler, a Prisoner of War of the Japanese during World War II, and is still sharing his Christian faith
By Dan Wooding, ASSIST Ministries
HOLLYWOOD HILLS, Calif. -- I have interviewed some extraordinary people in my more than 43 years as a...
Read More comments
Event draws 95-year-old former USC athlete whose book about his odyssey during World War II is a bestseller. His stories at a fundraiser include jabs at the former Trojans football coach.
By TJ Simers, Los Angeles Times
Pete Carroll is back in town and onstage. He's sitting beside Lou...
Read More comments
Louis Zamperini, 95, was recently featured on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno, sitting next to actor & director Catherine Zeta-Jones. Louis discusses his experience growing up in Los Angeles as a "rotten kid", the 1936 Olympics and rooming with Jesse Owens, and his incredible story during WWII...
Read More comments
'King of the Mile' Glenn Cunningham was a real hero of mine... he did the impossible. He was burnt as a child from his arms to his legs to his feet to his back and the doctors said he would never walk again.
By Gary Cohen, GaryCohenRunning.com
Louis Zamperini placed eighth in the 5000 meters...
Read More comments
''I don't consider myself a hero, but more of a grateful survivor.''
By Ira Berkow, New York Times
In June 1944, Anthony & Louise Zamperini were at their home in Torrance, Calif., when they received the following message regarding their son, an airman who at age 19 had been a member of the...
Read More commentsReturn the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.
ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.
CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.
NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance, to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.
Become a Mile Maniac member or a BBTM sponsor today! Join us, and go Mile!