Word: barthel
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...week long, New York sportswriters filled their columns with conjectures about Josef Barthel's chances of breaking Gil Dodds's indoor mile record...
...Millrose Games meet-and its famed Wanamaker Mile-the Madison Square Garden box office was turning away business. The track fans were considerably more excited than 26-year-old Josef Barthel. Luxembourg's 1,500-meter Olympic champion (and record holder) was more concerned with his Harvard postgraduate studies in sanitary engineering. After classes, on the day of the meet, Barthel finally got around to hopping a train in Boston, and reached Manhattan just a few hours before...
Warming up, Barthel seemed as unconcerned as the crowd was excited, though he was making only his third start on an indoor track and had never seen the Garden's before. He stood respectfully for The Star-Spangled Banner, then straightened a bit more as the band struggled through the Luxembourg national anthem, Ons Hémecht (Our Homeland). At the starter's gun, medium-built (5 ft. 9 in., 155 Ibs.) Barthel was off with the pack, running smoothly and easily with his short-legged stride...
When it was announced that Barthel had passed the three-quarter-mile mark in 3:09.2, the knowing crowd groaned, for at such a pace a record was impossible. But the groans turned to cheers as Barthel cut loose with his famed finishing sprint. With no one to push him. Barthel whirled around the banked track in a burning final quarter of 58.3 seconds, finished 20 yards ahead of Runner-Up Fred Wilt. At the finish, Barthel seemed to be the only man in the Garden not noticeably out of breath. His time: 4:07.5, third fastest in Wanamaker history...
...Says Barthel: "I do not run to set records; I run to win meets. I also run to relax from studying." After the race, Barthel headed back to Harvard, leaving track fans more convinced than ever that he will break Dodds's record, and others, when he has to, to win a meet...