From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American distance
runner and winner of the marathon race at
the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Born in Munich, Germany, where his father,
physician Samuel Shorter, served in the army, Frank Shorter grew up
in Middletown, New
York and graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon
School, Yale
University, and the University of Florida College of Law.
Career
Shorter first achieved fame by winning the 1969 NCAA 10,000
meter title in his senior year at Yale. He won his first U.S.
national titles in 1970 in the 5000 meter and 10,000 meter events.
He also was the U.S. national 10,000 meter champion in 1971, 1974,
1975 and 1977.
Upon graduation from Yale, Shorter chose to pursue a law degree
at the University of Florida in Gainesville because of the
excellence of the environment and the opportunity to train with Jack Bacheler as
members of the newly created Florida Track Club (FTC).[1]
Bacheler was, at that time, regarded as America's best distance
runner, having qualified for the finals of the 5,000-meter race at
the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.[2] The
FTC's core nucleus of Frank, Jack and Jeff Galloway qualified for the 1972
Olympics and their success made Gainesville, Florida the Mecca of
distance running on the East Coast in the early 1970s.[3]
Shorter won the U.S. national cross-country championships four
times (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973). He was the U.S. Olympic Trials
Champion in both the 10,000 m and the marathon in both 1972 and
1976. He also won both the 10,000 m and the marathon at the 1971 Pan American
Games. Shorter was a four-time winner of the Fukuoka
Marathon (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974). He was successful on the
road racing circuit as well, winning the Peachtree Road Race in
1977 and the Falmouth Road Race in 1975 and 1976.
But his greatest fame came when Shorter won the Gold medal in
the Marathon at the 1972 Munich Olympics. Shorter also finished
fifth in the 1972 Olympic 10,000 meter final. He was the 1972
recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award as the
top amateur athlete in the United States. Shorter earned his Juris Doctor (law)
degree in 1975 from the University of Florida. He finished second
in the Marathon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal,
Canada, behind surprise winner Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany. A light
rain fell during much of that Marathon race and Shorter had a
well-known dislike of running in rain.
Shorter decided to retire from athletics after the 1977 season
to start his own athletic supply company but then returned to road
racing competition in 1979, with high placings at several
competitive races and wins at the Chicago Classic and the
Badgerland 10 miler, setting the American 10-mile road record with
a time of 47:34. He ended the year ranked #3 in the U.S. at 10,000
meters on the track and #5 in the North American Road Rankings by
Track and Field News magazine. He also has
worked in television as a sports commentator. He is former Chairman
of the United States Anti-Doping
Agency.
Shorter, along with Charlie Jones, provided
the voices of the TV announcers for a fictionalized staging of the
U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials in the 1982 film, Personal
Best.
Shorter was also featured as a prominent character, played by Jeremy Sisto, in the
1998 film "Without
Limits." The film follows the life of Shorter's contemporary,
Olympic teammate and some-time rival Steve Prefontaine. Shorter was one of
the last people to see Prefontaine alive before he died in a car
wreck.
Shorter was the World Masters Biathlon Champion in 1989.
Frank Shorter was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in
1984, the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989, and the
National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1998.
In Middletown, New York, the hometown of Shorter a road is
dedicated under his name Frank Shorter Way.
Video
Interviews
Marathon
- 1971 - first
- 1972 - first
- 1973 - first
- 1974 - second
- 1976 - second
10,000
Meters
- 1970 - second
- 1972 - fifth
- 1974 - fifth
- 1975 - second
5,000
Meters
Marathon
- 1971 - first
- 1972 - first
- 1973 - first
- 1974 - first
- 1976 - first
10,000
Meters
- 1969 - third
- 1970 - first
- 1971 - first
- 1972 - first
- 1973 - fifth
- 1974 - first
- 1975 - first
- 1976 - second
- 1977 - first
- 1979 - third
5,000
Meters
- 1969 - sixth
- 1970 - second
- 1971 - fourth
- 1972 - tenth
- 1973 - seventh
- 1974 - fourth
- 1975 - third
- 1976 - fifth
- 1977 - seventh
Personal
Records
Track
- 3 miles - 12:52
- 5,000 Meters - 13:26.60 (1977)
- 10,000 Meters - 27:45.91 (1975)
Road
- Marathon (26 miles, 385 yards)- 2:10:30 (1972)
References
United
States
Wikis
Quiz
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