1937
Buddy Edelen, United States, long-distance runner. Leonard Graves Edelen was the first American athlete to crack 2:20:00 in the marathon as well as the first under 30:00 in the 10,000m. In 1962 he won the Polytechnic Marathon, running a world-best mark of 2:14:28, the first time anyone had run a marathon under 2:15:00. At the 1964 (Tokyo) Olympic Games he finished sixth in the marathon. I first learned of Edelen in a chapter devoted to his career in Leonard Shecter's 1969 book The Jocks. More recently Frank Murphy wrote an entire book devoted to Edelen's athletic career, the 2000 biography A Cold Clear Day. Edelen died on 19 February 1997.
1958
Amadou Dia Ba, Senegal, hurdler. After an early flirtation with the high jump, El Hadj Amadou Dia Ba became a 400m hurdles specialist, making the final in the men's 400m hurdles in the 1983 (Helsinki) World Championships and winning a silver medal in that event at the 1988 (Seoul) Olympic Games, running 47.23.
1961
Jack Buckner, Great Britain, middle-distance runner. Running in the shadow of Steve Ovett and Seb Coe, Jack Richard Buckner moved up from the 1,500m/mile to the 5,000m. In the longer event he placed second in the 1986 (Edinburgh) Commonwealth Games, running 13:25.87 behind Ovett. Later that year he set the European Championships record of 13:10.15 in the men's 5,000m. Buckner went on to win a bronze medal in the men's 5,000m at the 1987 (Rome) World Championships and represent Britain in the 5,000m in the 1988 (Seoul) and 1992 (Barcelona) Olympic Games.
1964
Tibor Gécsek, Hungary, hammer thrower. After winning bronze medals in the hammer at the 1993 (Stuttgart) and 1995 (Gothenburg) world championships, Tibor Gécsek tested positive for drugs and received a two-year ban from the IAAF. Even so, I didn't think it would be healthy to ignore the birthday of a man who has thrown the hammer 83.68m.
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