February 09, 2022
“‘I want to be that person and I want an American to do it.’”
By Scott M. Reid, Orange County Register
On an autumn day in 1961, Jim Beatty, the world’s top-ranked Miler, was on an easy run in Los Angeles, slowly returning from an injury.
It was one of those solitary runs runners sometimes...
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January 03, 2022
“I wanted an American to become the first man in the world to go under 4 minutes indoors.”
By Simon Turnbull for World Athletics Heritage
Whenever Jim Beatty is asked to speak about his enduring niche in track & field history, as the first man to run an indoor Mile in less than 4 minutes, he...
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June 16, 2020
"My father had a 'laser focus'. He was humble, gracious, gregarious and he took what he had from running and used it in his life. There was this balance of instruction and a quiet voice."
By Peter John L. Thompson
The world of Track & Field Athletics is deeply saddened by the news that...
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February 10, 2012
Fifty years ago on February 10, a short middle-distance specialist from North Carolina stepped up on the boarded indoor track at the Los Angeles Sports Arena and made running history. Three minutes and 58 seconds after the starting gun had sounded, Jim Beatty became the first human ever to go...
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September 03, 1962
"Everybody said the American runner is lazy, don't work. Now the American distance runner is the best in the vorld."
By John Lovesey, Sports Illustrated
Getting to the top these days is not so much a climb for mountaineers as it is an exercise in pyramidal logistics. A large expedition,...
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February 19, 1962
The starter's gun in Los Angeles sends off Jim Beatty on the fastest indoor Mile ever run. The field from the pole: Tabori, Beatty, Grelle, Close, Martin
By Tex Maule, Sports Illustrated
Murray Halberg, an almost painfully thin New Zealander with cool light-blue eyes under pale bushy...
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