Gene Venzke

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Eugene George "Gene" Venzke (June 27, 1908 – February 14, 1992) was an American middle-distance runner. Venzke qualified for the Olympic final at 1500 meters in 1936 and set indoor world records at both 1500 meters and the mile.

Career

Gene Venzke had a long career, placing in the top five at the national outdoor championships ten times between 1930 and 1940.[1][2] His greatest successes, however, came indoors, as he was national champion in 1932, 1933 and 1936[1][3] and also set a number of world records.

Venzke was in excellent shape during the 1932 indoor season.[4] On February 6 he broke the indoor mile world record of Paavo Nurmi and Joie Ray with a clocking of 4:11.2 at the Millrose Games in New York.[5] He improved to 4:10.0 eleven days later at the Baxter Mile, also in New York.[6] On February 27 he broke the 1500 m world record with a time of 3:53.4.[7] Despite his age he was still in high school at the time, having dropped out for several years.[7][8]

On June 18 Venzke broke the American outdoor record at Cambridge, running 3:52.6.[9] He was considered extremely likely to make the Olympic team.[9] However, he had already lost his best shape,[4] having pulled a muscle in training,[8] and at the Olympic Trials he only placed 4th, missing out by one place;[9] he was still among the leaders with a hundred yards to go, but was passed in the final straight by Norwood Hallowell, Frank Crowley and finally Glenn Cunningham.[9]

At the 1933 indoor championships Venzke beat the Olympic fourth placer, Cunningham, in 3:55.4.[10] But again he failed to maintain his best shape into the summer; at the outdoor championships he was only third and Cunningham broke his American record.[2][11]

Venzke's main rivals in 1934 and 1935 were Cunningham and Princeton University's Bill Bonthron.[12] At the 1934 NCAA championships Venzke, now a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, placed third behind these two.[13] At the national championships Venzke ran 1500 meters in 3:50.5; however, this was only good enough for third place as Bonthron broke the world record.[2] At the 1935 championships he took second behind Cunningham.[2]

Venzke regained his national indoor title in 1936, scoring a close win over Cunningham in a world record time of 3:49.9.[14] At the outdoor championships he was again beaten to third behind Cunningham and Emporia State's Archie San Romani; however, he defeated Bonthron, who was fourth.[2] At the Olympic Trials the following week[nb 1] the same men took the four top spots in the same order, with Venzke in third making the Olympic team ahead of Bonthron.[16] At the Olympics Venzke won his heat and placed 9th in the final.[1]

After the Olympics, he was part of a United States relay team (with Chuck Hornbostel, San Romani and Cunningham) that set a new world record of 17:17.2 in the 4 x Mile relay.[1][17] He stayed in good shape for many more years,[18] running his personal mile best of 4:08.2 in 1940.[8] Originally from a poor family, Venzke made money as an investor[8] and opened a golf range in Reiffton, Pennsylvania after finally retiring from running.[8][19]

Notes

  1. ↑ In 1936, the national championships and the Olympic Trials were held separately for the first time since 1924. In 1992 they were merged into a single meet again.[15]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Gene_Venzke&oldid=723155156"