Word: ryun
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Spengler also had a good day. He ran the mile in 4:10.5. Among his opponents in that race was Marty Liquori, who beat Jim Ryun in the Martin Luther King games several weeks ago with a time of 3:54.4. He didn't face the same kind of competition Saturday and won the mile...
When they first ran against each other in 1967, Jim Ryun of the University of Kansas was the world's premier miler and Marty Liquori was a 17-year-old hotshot out of Essex Catholic High in Newark, N.J. At the A.A.U. championships that year, Liquori streaked home in 3 min. 59.8 sec. to shatter the four-minute barrier for the first time in his career. The crowd cheered-but not for Marty. He finished seventh, a full 70 yds. behind Ryun, who set a new-and still unbroken-world record of 3 min. 51.1 sec. for the mile...
Last week's meet in Philadelphia was the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. International Freedom Games. For Liquori, it was appropriately named. Ever since their first encounter, Liquori has been trying to free himself of a Ryun hex that plagued him even in victory. Two years ago, after losing six straight races to his nemesis, Liquori nipped Ryun by inches to win the N.C.A.A. championship. "Right away," recalls Liquori, "everyone said that he was holding back because he had to run the three-mile an hour and a half later." The next week he passed Ryun in mid-race...
Hate Mail. Ryun's departure from competition left the field to Liquori. Asked if he missed Ryun, he said, "I don't think Wilt Chamberlain misses Bill Russell very much." But Liquori did miss the competition, if only because the pressure that buckled Ryun became "the monkey on my back." It was not too large a monkey; going into the Freedom Games, Liquori had won 27 out of his last 28 races. Ryun, in retirement, returned to school, packed on 35 lbs., and tried to forget all the hate mail that labeled him a "quitter." A year...
...Liquori. A fierce competitor who prefers to run against a man rather than the clock, he was hoping for a fast early pace so that he might be able to "outgut" Ryun with a long, sustained kick. At the half-mile mark, though, Ryun led the eleven-man field in the dawdling time of 2:03.3. Forced to move out earlier than he had anticipated, Liquori passed Ryun and began a tortuous 660-yd. sprint for the finish. Rounding the final turn, Ryun pulled to within a step of Liquori. Down the stretch they came, Ryun with his head ticking...