RSS
Home
Get to know Chicago Olympian Rick Wohlhuter
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Quick. Name three U.S. Olympic 800 meter runners. Okay. What names popped up? Nick Symonds, JoEtta Clark, Johnny Gray?
Anyone put in Rick Wohlhuter? I have sneaking suspicion if you are a Baby Boomer you might have said Rick Wohlhuter and if you are Gen X you might not have said his name. Too often we participate in a sport and don’t always know our local history ties. In honor of our Chicago 2016 Olympic bid, I’m going to be highlighting local and regional runners with Olympic ties in the coming months.
Two-time Olympian Rick Wohlhuter, a Chicago native who ran for the famous UCTC Track Club, competed in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the 800m and did not have the race he wanted, he stumbled in the semifinals. But he had a better experience at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games were he won a bronze medal in the 800 meters and also competed in the 1500 meters. In 1974 he set a world record in the 880-yard run in 1:44.10 and also set a U.S. record in the 1,000m run with a time of 2:13.9. When I checked the USATF web site, that record still exists.
Wohlhuter is the last man to qualify for both the 800m and 1500m in the same Olympics.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
