Died: Art Bragg, 87
On August 25, in Los Angeles; of a heart attack. Morgan State star won the ’51 NCAA 100 and placed 2nd in the 220. The next year he was 2nd in the 100, 4th in the 200, but won the Olympic Trials 100. An injury in the heats kept him out of the Helsinki final. World Ranked 5 times in the 100, topped by No. 2s in ’53 & ’54. Ranked 4 times at 200, with a No 2 in ’53.
Died: George Brown, 86
On July 23, in Sacramento. Two-time NCAA champ in the long jump for UCLA. World-Ranked 5 times with 3 straight No. 1s, 1951–53. The prohibitive ’52 Olympic favorite, he fouled out in slippery conditions in Helsinki, but still ranked No. 1 on the year. He had a 41-meet win streak which was history’s longest until Carl Lewis came along.
Died: Darrow Hooper, 86
On August 19. Texas A&M putter won the ’51 NCAA title and was runner-up the next 2 years. As a prep at North Side of Ft. Worth he had set the national record at 59-10. Won silver at the ’52 Olympics, and was World Ranked 3 times, topped by No. 3s in ’52 & ’53. Also placed 5th in the NCAA discus in ’51 & ’53.
Died: Paul Koech, 49
On September 4, in Nairobi; after a short illness. Winner of the World Half-Marathon title in ’98, he World Ranked 4 times in the 10,000, topped by No. 3s in ’97 & ’98. He also Ranked twice at 5000, with a No. 5 in ’97.
Died: Diane Leather, 85
On September 7, in Truro, England; of a stroke. Little noticed at the time, in ’54 became the first woman to break the 5:00 barrier in the mile. She set a total of 5 WRs in the event, in addition to records at 440 and 880 yards. World Ranked three times at 800, with a No. 1 in ’57.
Died: John van Reenen, 71
On August 22, in Cape Town; from complications of diabetes. A 3-time NCAA discus champ for Washington State (1968–70), set a World Record of 224-8 (68.48) in ’75. The 5-time World Ranker (No. 4 in ’72) was never allowed to compete in the Olympics because of South Africa’s apartheid policies. Here’s our big piece on him from the I May ’72 edition of the magazine, for which he created the cover. □
