Don Bowden

Don Bowden
Bowden in 1957
Personal information
Born (1936-08-08) August 8, 1936
San José, California, U.S.[1]
Height 190 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s) 400 m – mile
Club California Golden Bears
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 400 m – 47.9 (1957)
880 yd – 1:47.2 (1957)
1500 m – 3:46.5 (1957)
Mile – 3:58.7 (1957)[1][2]

Donald Paul "Don" Bowden (born August 8, 1936) is an American middle-distance runner. He competed in the 1500 m at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and in 1957 became the first American to run a mile within four minutes.[3]

At the 1956 Olympics, he failed to reach the final, coming 11th in his qualifying heat.[4] Despite having previously run only a few full mile races, on June 1, 1957 he clocked a 3:58.7, setting a new American record.[5] He also ran on a world-record-setting 4×880 yd team for University of California.[5]

Bowden attended Abraham Lincoln High School (San Jose, California) in San Jose, California where he was a star 880 yd runner, then entered the University of California, Berkeley, where he again specialized in the 880 yd. After college he helped develop the Tartan track, the first artificial running surface. He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2008.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Don Bowden. sports-reference.com
  2. ↑ Don Bowden. trackfield.brinkster.net
  3. ↑ CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF U.S. MILERS WHO HAVE BROKEN 4:00 IN THE MILE. trackandfieldnews.com
  4. ↑ Men 1500m Athletics Olympic Games Melbourne 1956 – Saturday 03.12 Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine., Sport Statistics – International Competitions Archive. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Don Bowden, USA Track and Field – Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 28, 2013.



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