Frank Charles SHORTER

Frank Shorter is the only U.S. athlete to have won two Olympic medals in the marathon. He started as a long distance track runner, winning the NCAA six miles for Yale in 1969. Shorter went on to win five AAU titles at six miles/10,000 m; he also won the AAU outdoor three miles in 1970 and the indoor title in 1971. He won the 1971 Pan American Games 10,000 m event and, at the 1972 Olympics, he set a U.S. record in the 10,000 m heats, which he further improved by taking fifth place in the final. At the 1979 Pan American Games he won bronze in the 10,000 m. Despite these track successes, Frank Shorter will be best remembered as a marathon runner. He made his marathon début when he placed second to Kenny Moore in the 1971 AAU Championships. In his second race he won the PanAm Games title, and he rounded off his first season as a road runner with the first of his record number of four victories in the Fukuoka Marathon. In winning this Japanese classic for the second time in 1972, Shorter set his career best of 2-10:30. Shorter is often described as being responsible for the late 70s running boom in the United States. He became highly visible as a television announcer and commercial spokesman, and started his own chain of running stores, based in Colorado, which markets his own brand of running apparel.

Personal Bests: Mile – 4:02.6 (1974); 2 miles – 8:26.2i (1971); 5000 – 13:26.6 (1977); 10000 – 27:45.91 (1975); Mar – 2-10:30 (1972).