Died: Klaus Beer, 80
On June 08. Beer, competing for East Germany, won long jump silver in the ’68 Olympics behind Bob Beamon’s legendary WR. His PR of 26-10½ (8/19) came in winning that medal, and moved him to No. 5 on the all-time list. He was a 4-time World Ranker, with No. 3s in ’68 & ’70.
Died: Charles Blockson, 89
On June 14, in Philadelphia. The Penn State thrower was 6th in the ’54 NCAA shot and later became a well-known historian and author. In ’84 he became the first African-American to write a cover story for National Geographic.
Died: Harvey Glance, 66
On June 12, in Mesa, Arizona; of a heart attack. A 3-time Olympian, Glance won gold as part of the ’76 Montréal 4×1 and placed 4th in the 100. He had won the 100/200 double at the ’76 NCAA for Auburn; the next year he won the 100 again. He also won relay gold at the ’87 Worlds. A 5-time World Ranker at 100, he was No. 3 in ’79. At 200 he Ranked twice (No. 7 in ’76). After his athletic career, he served as coach at Auburn and Alabama and was also the head man at the ’09 WC.
Died: Jim Hines, 76
On June 03, in Hayward, California. The ’68 Olympic gold medalist in the 100 was the first to break 10.00; his 9.95 set in Mexico City’s altitude lasted as the WR for nearly 15 years. On relay, he won another gold with another WR. He World Ranked 3 times, and was No. 1 in ’67 & ’68. In the 200, he was No. 2 in both ’66 & ’67.
Died: Samuel Kosgei, 37
On May 26, in Kapsabet, Kenya, after being struck in a hit-and-run. He set a 25K WR of 1:11:50 in ’10. In 2021 he PRed at 2:06:03 to win the Barcelona Marathon.
Died: Mike McFarlane, 63
On June 06. The British sprinter helped his nation win silver in the 4×1 at the ’88 Olympics. He had also won a shared Commonwealth 200 gold in ’82 and the Euro Indoor 60 in ’85.
Died: Helmar Müller, 83
On June 09. Competing for West Germany, Müller led off the bronze-winning 4×4 at the Mexico City Olympics. He didn’t advance from the 400 heats.
Died: Dean Smith, 91
On June 24, in Breckenridge, Texas; of cancer. The 4th-placer in the Helsinki Olympic 100 in ’52, he won 4×1 gold. Was a 3-time NCAA scorer for Texas in the 100. He went on to become a famed Hollywood stuntman.
Died: Nikolay Sviridov, 85
On June 14, in Voronezh, Russia. Competing for the Soviet Union, Sviridov was a double Olympic finalist in ’68, placing 5th in the 10,000 and 7th in the 5. Took 8th in the shorter race in ’72 He was Ranked No. 1 in the world at 10,000 in ’73, with 3 other World Rankings in that event.