Birthday: 09/11/49 Mile PR: 3:52.2 - 1975
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 3:36.0 - 1971
High School: Essex Catholic HS '67
Hometown: Cedar Grove, NJ
College: Villanova '72
Current Residence: Gainesville, FL
Marty Liquori was a 1968 Olympian at 1500 meters, finishing 12th in Mexico City. At the age of 19, he was the youngest person to participate in the Olympic 1500 meter final. Liquori first broke 4 minutes for the Mile (3:59.8) in 1967, while in high school, making him the third U.S. high school boy to break the "magic" 4 minute barrier.
In 1969, Marty was ranked #1 in the world in the Mile and the 1500 meters. In 1971, the Villanova grad was again ranked #1 in the world (undefeated including the epic win over rival Jim Ryun in the first Dream Mile); he was the last American male to be world-ranked #1 in the 1500 / Mile.
Over the course of his career, Liquori won 14 national titles - 9 USA and 5 NCAA - ranging from the Mile (AAU, 3 indoor, 1969-70, '73, and 2 outdoor, 1969 & 1971) to 5000 meters. In 1977, he was the world’s #1 ranked for 5000m, also setting the U.S. record (13:15.06).
The New Jersey native is the only man to win three consecutive NCAA outdoor Mile titles (1969-71), all sub-4, setting the meet record twice: 3:57.7 in 1969 and 3:57.6 in 1971. In addition, he earned three consecutive Wanamaker Mile titles (1969-71).
In 2024, Marty Liquori was inducted into the Collegiate Track & Field / Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame, third class.
FUN FACT: Marty, a former TV commentator, is an accomplished jazz guitarist.
FUN FACT II: He is also the co-founder of The Athlete Attic footwear chain in 1971.
FUN FACT III: His given name is Martin.
Photo credit: Jeff Johnson
“I wanted us both sagging in the stretch, looking more like boxers, both dead, like we were running on sand.”
From Track & Field News
Track's rich history is full of great head-to-head clashes. To kick off our new series of trips to the TFN vaults to find coverage of some of the most...
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Villanova star won three outdoor NCAA Mile crowns, all sub-4, setting two meet records
From USTFCCCA
Marty Liquori of Villanova beat a legend for his first victory at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
He was just a sophomore then and followed with two more NCAA Mile...
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“I felt I could not have run a more perfect race.”
Steve Landells for the IAAF
The IAAF takes a look back at five unforgettable, historic races over the classic Mile distance.
#1
1954 – Oxford, England
Roger Bannister’s Mile world record may have only lasted a mere 46 days but his place...
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Only one high school in the state has produced two sub-4 Milers.
By Jim Lambert, Mile Split NJ
With Monday marking the 65th anniversary of Roger Bannister becoming the first sub-4 minute Miler ever, this seemed like a perfect time to take a look at all the New Jersey high school grads who...
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Growing up in Western PA, all my buddies wanted to be Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh Steelers QB). I wanted to be Marty Liquori!
By Bring Back the Mile
Our winner of the $500 for 500th U.S. Sub-4 Mile presented by Running Warehouse fan contest was Coach Greg Bixel of Pennsylvania. His guess of...
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From Racing Past
Marty Liquori in full flight, still viewable on the Internet, has to be one of the finest sights in competitive running. He appeared on the running scene in 1967 as the third American high-schooler to break the 4 minute Mile. The 17-year-old from New Jersey was only seventh in...
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"Playing a guitar is not a talent any more than running the Mile is a talent. It’s about work and taking a scientific approach to things and progressing.”
By Noel Neff, GainesvilleObserved.com
There was a time when the world knew Marty Liquori for his legs and feet, which for a memorable...
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"Ryun was so dominant, everyone in the stadium was on their feet," remembers Larry Knuth, a longtime Los Angeles track & field coach who was there that night. "People were going nuts."
By Cathrine Merlo, The Bakersfield Californian
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Those who were there still remember the...
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"In those days the Mile was such a glamour event that it was better to be the fifth best Miler in the world than the top 5000 meter runner.”
From Gary Cohen Running
Marty Liquori earned the silver medal in the 5000 meters at the 1977 World Cup in an American record 13:15.06. He has ranked #1...
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By Robbie Andreu, The Gainesville Sun
Marty Liquori’s phone has been relatively quiet the past week. That’s not the way it used to be with the approach of a significant anniversary of the Dream Mile.
“When it was 10 years, 20 years, I’d get a lot of phone calls about it,” he said. “But you...
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By Tim Connelly, The New York Times
The news that the Millrose Games are leaving Madison Square Garden after 97 years to relocate uptown to the 168th Street armory reminds us of how indifferent we are to track and field. And yet, in a coincidence of timing, we remember, too, that we were not...
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Mile legends & Olympians, the Ali-Frazier of the track world, produced some epic races vs. each other
By Villanova Running
So far as I am aware, Marty Liquori and Jim Ryun raced each other a total of eight times. Ryun won the first four races. The fifth race -- the 1969 NCAA Indoor...
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By Dick Patrick, USA Today
Fifty years ago today, Roger Bannister recorded the first sub-four-minute Mile — 3:59.4. Since then, as the world record has improved 16 seconds, elite U.S. male Milers have become practically an endangered species.
In an Olympic year, the talk isn't if the USA will...
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Sprinting away from a classy field in Kingston, Jamaica's Dream Mile, 21-year-old Filbert Bayi of Tanzania broke Jim Ryun's 8-year-old world record to clearly establish that he is the King of the Milers
By Ron Reid, Sports Illustrated
It was a world record performance that defied logic, a set...
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It was advertised as the Dream Mile, and though for the contestants it often seemed like the Nightmare Marathon the race lived up to its billing as Marty Liquori held off Jim Ryun on the last turn to win
By Pat Putnam, Sports Illustrated
For the first three-eighths of a Mile, it could have...
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