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Former world record
holder Ben Eastman (Stanford University) 1932 Olympic 400m Silver Medalist
dies
LA Coliseum 1932 Olympics
One of the greatest quarter-mile and half-mile runners of all time, Ben
Eastman, died last Sunday at his home in Hotchkiss, Colo. He was 91.
An aggressive runner during his career, “Blazin Ben” would
quickly run to
the front of the pack and then dare his competitors to catch him. His
prime
was between 1932 to 1934, where he set world records outdoors at 400 meters,
440 yards, 500 meters, 600 yards, 800 meters and 880 yards. Eastman won
the
1932 Olympic silver medal at 400 meters, finishing second to fellow American
Bill Carr.
Eastman attended Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor’s
degree in
1933 and a master’s of business administration in 1935. A former
part-time
track coach at the University of Santa Clara, he worked in San Francisco
and
New York with companies that sold industrial supply equipment. Since 1959,
he owned and operated a fruit orchard in western Colorado. Eastman is
survived by three sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
above from usatf
below from Stanford University
“Blazin’ Ben” Eastman, MBA '35, Olympic track star
Perhaps the best known School of Business (Stanford) alumnus athlete is
Benjamin Bangs Eastman, MBA'35, who has been referred to as the greatest,
middle distance runner of his time. "Blazin' Ben," as he was
called on the Farm, set six individual world records in his heyday—440
yards, 400 meters, 880 yards, 800 meters, 500 yards, 600 yards, and anchored
a four-man Stanford relay team to a world record. His achievements brought
him to the cover of the July 11, 1932 issue of Time. In a profile in which
his running style and training methods, as well as his track achievements,
were described, Time said of him, “If U.S. track coaches had been
trying to pick an Olympic team last week, there was one name which they
surely would have chosen—Benjamin Bangs Eastman."
At the 1932 Olympic Games, Eastman, while hampered with a sinus infection,
still managed to garner a silver medal in the 400-meter event. Eastman's
Stanford records held up well under the test of time: his 46.4 seconds
for the 440-yard dash has yet to be broken after forty-eight years; and
his records for the 400-meter dash and the 880-yard run, established in
1932, were not bested until 1977 and 1958 respectively. Today, Ben Eastman
owns an orchard in Rogers Mesa, Colorado, where he has been for the last
twenty years. In addition to "raising apples and a few other tree
fruits," he is currently chairman of the Colorado State Agriculture
Commission, a body he has been a member of for the past five years. And
he is still winning trophies. In 1972 he was recipient of the "apple
award" given by the Western Colorado Horticultural Society and the
American Pomological Society for his work in fruit growing. Those who
knew him in an earlier day might like to know that he has lost none of
his modesty. The living room of his picturesque farmhouse is not lined
with medals and trophies, but with books and paintings. "I should
have all that stuff together, but I don't," says the former track
champion. "I don't really know how many medals I won or where they
are."
Men's 800m. World Record Progression
TIME ATHLETE COUNTRY DATE VENUE
1.41.11 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) 24 Jul 97 Cologne
1.41.24 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) 13 Aug 97 Zurich
1.41.73 Wilson Kipketer (DEN) 07 Jul 97 Stockholm
1.41.73 Sebastian Coe (GBR) 10 Jun 81 Florence
1.42.33 Sebastian Coe (GBR) 05 Jul 79 Oslo
1.43.44 Alberto Juantorena (CUB) 21 Aug 77 Sofia
1.43.50 Alberto Juantorena (CUB) 16 Jul 76 Montreal
1.43.5 Rick Wohlhuter (USA) 08 Jun 74 Eugene
1.44.1y Rick Wohlhuter (USA) 08 Jun 74 Eugene
1.43.7 Marcello Fiasconaro (ITA) 27 Jun 73 Milan
1.44.0 Rick Wohlhuter (USA) 27 May 73 Los Angeles
1.44.3 David Wottle (USA) 01 Jul 72 Eugene
1.44.3 Ralph Doubell (AUS) 15 Oct 68 Mexico City
1.44.9y Jim Ryun (USA) 10 Jun 66 Terre Haute
1.44.3 Peter Snell (NZL) 02 Feb 62 Christchurch
1.46.8y Tom Courtney (USA) 24 May 57 Los Angeles
1.45.7 Roger Moens (BEL) 03 Aug 55 Oslo
1.47.5y Lonnie Spurrier (USA) 26 Mar 55 Berkeley
1.48.6y Gunnar Nielsen (DEN) 30 Sep 54 Copenhagen
1.48.6y Mel Whitfield (USA) 17 Jul 53 Turku
1.49.2y Mel Whitfield (USA) 19 Aug 50 Berea
1.49.2y Doug Harris (NZL) 25 Jan 47 Wanganui
1.46.6 Rudolf Harbig (GER) 15 Jun 39 Milan
1.48.4 Sydney Wooderson (GBR) 20 Aug 38 Motspur Park
1.49.6 Elroy Robinson (USA) 11 Jul 37 New York
1.49.7 Glenn Cunningham (USA) 20 Aug 36 Stockholm
1.49.8 Ben Eastman (USA) 16 Jun 34 Princeton
1.49.8 Thomas Hampson (GBR) 02 Aug 32 Los Angeles
1.50.9y Glenn Cunningham (USA) 17 Jun 33 Chicago
1.50.9y Chuck Hornbostel (USA) 17 Jun 33 Chicago
1.50.0(1.50.9) Ben Eastman (USA) 04 Jun 32 San
Francisco
1.51.3y Ben Eastman (USA) 09 Apr 32 Stanford
1.50.6 Sera Martin (FRA) 14 Jul 28 Paris
1.51.4 Lloyd Hahn (USA) 07 Jul 28 Cambridge, Mass
1.51.6 Otto Peltzer (GER) 03 Jul 26 London
1.52.2y Ted Meredith (USA) 03 May 15 Philadelphia
1.51.9 Ted Meredith (USA) 08 Jul 12 Stockholm
Biography
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