Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. His victory is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States of the 1970s.[1][2]
Early life and education [edit]
Frank Shorter was born in Munich, Germany, where his father, physician Samuel Shorter, served in the U.S. Army. He grew up in Middletown, New York. After earning his high school diploma from the Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts in 1965, Shorter graduated from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut with a bachelor of arts degree (B.A.) in 1969, and the University of Florida College of Law in Gainesville, Florida with a juris doctor degree (J.D.) in 1974.[3]
In the October 2011 issue of Runner's World, an article by John Brant detailed the traumatic household life Frank and his siblings suffered at the hands of his father and the buckled end of his belt. While his father enjoyed great prominence in his community, his behavior may have reflected, "a profound narcissistic personality disorder" according to Barbara duPlessis, Frank's sister. With the publication of the Runner's World article, Mr. Shorter will begin to elaborate on stopping similar cycles of violence in more detail and in public.[4]
Athletics career [edit]
Shorter first achieved distinction by winning the 1969 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 10,000-meter title during 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.
After graduating 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 Florida Track Club (FTC) founded by Jimmy Carnes, then the head coach of the Florida Gators track and field team.[5] 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.[6] The FTC's core nucleus of Shorter, Bacheler and Jeff Galloway qualified for the 1972 Olympics and their success made Gainesville the Mecca of distance running on the East Coast in the early 1970s.[7]
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-meter run and the marathon in both 1972 and 1976. He also won both the 10,000-meter run and the marathon at the 1971 Pan American Games. Shorter was a four-time winner of the Fukuoka Marathon (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974), generally recognized as the most prestigious marathon in the world at that time. 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.
Shorter won his greatest recognition, however, as a marathon runner, and is the only American athlete to win two medals in the Olympic marathon event.[8] He won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, after finishing fifth in the Olympic 10,000-meter final.[3] This ultimate achievement was marred by an impostor, West German student Norbert Sudhaus,[9] running into Olympic Stadium ahead of Shorter, who was not bothered by the silence from the crowd that had been duped into thinking he was running for the silver medal. Shorter was confident that he was going to win the gold medal because he knew that no other competing runner had passed him.[10] He received the James E. Sullivan Award afterward as the top amateur athlete in the United States.[3] He won the silver medal in the marathon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada,[3] finishing second behind previously unheralded gold medalist Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany.[11] Cierpinski was later implicated as a part of the state-sponsored doping program of his country by East German track and field research files uncovered by Werner Franke at the Stasi headquarters in Leipzig in the late 1990s.[12]
From 2000 to 2003, Shorter was the chairman of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, a body that he helped to establish.[13]
Shorter was featured as a prominent character, played by Jeremy Sisto, in the 1998 film Without Limits. The film follows the life of Shorter's contemporary, training partner, Olympic teammate and some-time rival Steve Prefontaine.[13] Shorter was the second to last person to see Prefontaine alive before he died in a car wreck.
Shorter was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984 and the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1989.[3]
A long-time resident of Boulder, Colorado; Shorter co-founded the Bolder Boulder in 1979. The annual 10k race is a popular Memorial Day event, which culminates with a tribute to U.S. Armed Forces at Folsom Field at the University of Colorado. A life-size bronze statue of Shorter stands outside the stadium.
Track & Field News Rankings [edit]
World Rankings [edit]
- Marathon
- 1971 - first
- 1972 - first
- 1973 - first
- 1974 - second
- 1976 - second
- 10,000 m
- 1970 - second
- 1972 - fifth
- 1974 - fifth
- 1975 - second
- 5000 m
U.S. Rankings [edit]
- Marathon
- 1971 - first
- 1972 - first
- 1973 - first
- 1974 - first
- 1976 - first
- 10,000 m
- 1969 - third
- 1970 - first
- 1971 - first
- 1972 - first
- 1973 - fifth
- 1974 - first
- 1975 - first
- 1976 - second
- 1977 - first
- 1979 - third
- 5000 m
- 1969 - sixth
- 1970 - second
- 1971 - fourth
- 1972 - tenth
- 1973 - seventh
- 1974 - fourth
- 1975 - third
- 1976 - fifth
- 1977 - seventh
Personal records [edit]
- 3 miles - 12:52.0 (1974)
- 5000 meters - 13:26.60 (1977)
- 10,000 meters - 27:45.91 (1975)
- Marathon (42.195 km)- 2:10:30 (1972)
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ http://republicanherald.com/sports/u-s-in-another-running-boom-1.469153 Republican Herald
- ^ http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports_globetrotting/2008/10/marathon-men-th.html Chicago Tribune October 10, 2008 by Phil Hersh
- ^ a b c d e USA Track & Field, Hall of Fame, Frank Shorter. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ Brant, John (October 2011). Frank's Story. Runner's World. Retrieved on 2011-10-15.
- ^ Gary Cohen, "Interview with John L. Parker," RunnersPace.com (August 4, 2009). Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ Roy Blount Jr., "Tallest, Fastest, Buggiest," Sports Illustrated (June 16, 1969). Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ Dave Millman, "Dave Millman: Running to Gainesville," The Gainesville Sun (December 8, 2008). Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ Sports Reference, Olympic Sports, Frank Shorter. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
- ^ "Olympic Memories: Munich's Marathon Imposter, Frank Shorter, and the 'Running Boom' of the 1970s," Colorsport, Thursday, May 3, 2012.
- ^ Kantowski, Ron. "Recalling the horror of 1972," Las Vegas (NV) Sun, Monday, June 15, 2009.
- ^ Sports Reference, Olympic Sports, Waldemar Cierpinski. Retrieved March 5, 2010. Cierpinski would repeat as the gold medalist at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, one of only two athletes to win the Olympic Marathon twice.
- ^ By Gare JoyceSpecial to Page 2 (Archive) (25 August 2008). "Joyce: Marathon fraud - ESPN Page 2". Sports.espn.go.com.
- ^ a b David Epstein, "Catching Up with Frank Shorter," Sports Illustrated (August 5, 2008). Retrieved March 5, 2010.
External links [edit]
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- Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
- OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996 & 2000 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
- Distance: Until 1924 the event was 5 miles; from 1925-27 and from 1929-31 it was over 6 miles.
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| Persondata |
| Name |
Shorter, Frank |
| Alternative names |
Shorter, Frank Charles; Shorter, Frank C. |
| Short description |
American college track and field athlete, international track and field athlete, long-distance runner, marathon runner, Olympic gold medalist |
| Date of birth |
October 31, 1947 |
| Place of birth |
Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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United States
