Died: Tom Courtney, 90
On August 22, in Naples, Florida; of amyloidosis. The ’56 Olympic 800 gold medalist also anchored the winning 4×4. At Fordham, he won the ’55 NCAA title, after being runner-up the previous year. He won AAU titles in the 400 (’56) and 880 (’57-58), and set a World Record 1:46.8 in ’57. World Ranked twice at 400, with a No. 1 in ’57; at 800, he was a 4-time Ranker, with a No. 1 in ’56 and No. 2s the next two years.
Died: Edward Czernik, 82
On May 31, in Zeilon Góra, Poland. He was No. 5 in the ’64 World Rankings, the year he placed 11th in the Olympic high jump.
Died: Connie Darnowski, 88
On August 02, in Uncasville, Connecticut; of lymphoma. A ’52 & ’56 Olympian in the 80H, she was the AAU champion in the former year.
Died: Sándor Eckschmiedt, 85
In August, in Budapest, Hungary The 3-time Olympian placed 5th in ’68 and 6th in ’72. World Ranked 4 times, with a No. 6 in ’67.
Died: Jean-Claude Nallet, 76
On August 19, in Mont-Saint-Aignan, France. The ’71 European champion in the 400H made the World Rankings 4 times, and was No. 1 in ’70. At the Olympics, didn’t make it out of the 400 heats in ’68 or 400H heats in ’72. Twice ranked No. 8 in the flat 400 and ran on the 8th-place 4×4 in Mexico City.
Died: James Parker, 47
On August 19, in Huntsville, Utah; of a heart attack. The 3-time USATF hammer champion was an ’04 Olympian and member of the ’05 Worlds squad. A 10-time U.S. Ranker in the hammer, he was thrice No. 1. For Utah State, he was runner-up in the ’01 NCAA.
Died: James Segrest, 86
On August 05, in Fort Worth, Texas. The 6th-placer in the ’56 NCAA 200 for Abilene Christian, he ran third leg on the 440-yard relay squad that set WRs in ’57 and ’58. He later coached Odessa College to 11 JUCO national championships and is in the USTFCCCA Hall Of Fame.
Died: Venyamin Soldatenko, 84
On July 15. The Olympic silver medalist for the Soviet Union in the 50K walk in ’72, the Kazakh was world champion in the event in ’76. A 9-time World Ranker, he was No. 1 in ’71 and ’76.
Died: Gregg Tafralis, 65
On August 11, in San José, California. The 9th-placer in the shot at the ’88 Olympics, Tafralis World Ranked 8 times, and was No. 4 in 1992, the year he led the world list. He was twice runner-up at the U.S. championships.
Died: Marianne Werner, 99
On July 22. Silver medalist in the ’52 Olympic shot for West Germany, she added a bronze four years later.
Died: Wally Wilson, 86
On July 25, in Houston, Texas. The Texas sprinter led-off the Longhorn 440-yard relay that in 1957 became the first team to break 40-seconds (although the 4 x 100 record was intrinsically much faster). A few weeks earlier the same foursome broke the WR in the 4 x 220 at the Texas Relays with its 1:22.7.
Died: László Zarándi, 94
On August 14. A member of Hungary’s bronze-medal 4 x 100 at the ’52 Olympics, he and his squad won European gold in that event two years later.