Willie’s quest begins this month for 50 at age 50
Willie Banks held the world record in the triple jump for 10 years — from June 16, 1985, until July 18, 1995, when his 17.97 (58-11 1/2) was surpassed by Briton Jon Edwards. But not even Jon’s current 60-foot jump would compare to a mark Willie has in mind for himself: going 50 feet at age 50. Willie turned 50 this past March. This month, he’ll see how far a half-century man can hop, step and jump. He writes: “I am well, but at 50 it is all relative. I am jumping OK but still have my little aches and pains. I will know if I will make the ’50 at 50′ mark by next week.â€
Willie continues:
“So far everything is on target for the world record (14.07 or 46-2), but the 50 feet will take a few more tweaks. I am looking forward to the challenge.
“I will jump on September 16th in Sendai, Japan, at the Japanese Masters Championship. I am doing it there because my sensei broke the world record for the triple jump (in Sendai) the year I was born . . . . If I pull it off, it will be a true triple jump! (50-year anniversary, 50 years old, 50 feet).â€
Me again:
I’ve copied the world-record progression in the triple jump below, and I don’t see a WR set in 1956. Little matter. Fifty feet is fifty feet. (And 50 at age 50 age-grades to 18.50 meters for an open athlete — or 60-8 1/2!)
I’m told that results from last year’s Japanese masters nationals are posted on this Web site. But I don’t read Japanese, and my browser doesn’t show the characters anyway. So I’m hoping that an English-language newspaper in Japan covers the meet and reports on Willie’s efforts.
In any case, Banks bears watching. He made history once. Can he make it again?
Here’s the TJ world-record progression (in reverse):
25 Jonathan EDWARDS GBR 18.29 07 Aug 1995 Gothenburg, SWE
24 Jonathan EDWARDS GBR 18.16 07 Aug 1995 Gothenburg, SWE
23 Jonathan EDWARDS GBR 17.98 18 Jul 1995 Salamanca, ESP
22 Willie BANKS USA 17.97 16 Jun 1985 Indianapolis, IN, USA
21 João Carlos DE OLIVEIRA BRA 17.89 15 Oct 1975 Mexico City, MEX
20 Viktor SANEYEV URS 17.44 17 Oct 1972 Sokhumi, URS
19 Pedro PÉREZ CUB 17.40 05 Aug 1971 Cali, COL
18 Viktor SANEYEV URS 17.39 17 Oct 1968 Mexico City, MEX
17 Nelson PRUDENCIO BRA 17.27 17 Oct 1968 Mexico City, MEX
16 Viktor SANEYEV URS 17.23 17 Oct 1968 Mexico City, MEX
15 Giuseppe GENTILE ITA 17.22 17 Oct 1968 Mexico City, MEX
14 Giuseppe GENTILE ITA 17.10 16 Oct 1968 Mexico City, MEX
13 Józef SCHMIDT POL 17.03 05 Aug 1960 Olsztyn, POL
12 Oleg FEDOSEYEV URS 16.70 03 May 1959 Nal’chik, URS
11 Oleg RYAKHOVSKIY URS 16.59 28 Jul 1958 Moscow, URS
10 Adhemar Ferreira DA SILVA BRA 16.56 16 Mar 1955 Mexico City, MEX
9 Leonid SHCHERBAKOV URS 16.23 19 Jul 1953 Moscow, URS
8 Adhemar Ferreira DA SILVA BRA 16.22 23 Jul 1952 Helsinki, FIN
7 Adhemar Ferreira DA SILVA BRA 16.12 23 Jul 1952 Helsinki, FIN
6 Adhemar Ferreira DA SILVA BRA 16.01 30 Sep 1951 Rio de Janeiro, BRA
5 Naoto TAJIMA JPN 16.00 06 Aug 1936 Berlin, GER
4 Jack METCALFE AUS 15.78 14 Dec 1935 Sydney, AUS
3 Chuhei NAMBU JPN 15.72 04 Aug 1932 Los Angeles, CA, USA
2 Mikio ODA JPN 15.58 27 Oct 1931 Tokyo, JPN
1 Dan AHEARN USA 15.52 30 May 1911 New York, NY, USA
3 Responses
Good tale re Willie Banks Ken
The world TJ list for 1956 shows 1 Motomitsu Kogake JPN 16.48 which at a stretch could be classified as a non-altitude WR at that time. Da Silva’s 16.56 (1955) was at altitude in Mexico City.
50 feet for Willie is a tall order. My calculations says that 50 feet equates to 15.24m.
Now if Willie was to edge that out to 15.34m that would equal the WR (unofficial) set in August 1906. 100 years! Now that would be some landmark.
Good research, Pete.
A French site confirms MK’s triple jump in October 1956 — at Sendai, Japan.
See:
http://bibliosports.ifrance.com/athletic/records/chronology/asia/asr_men_tj.htm
Nice one, there are actually some great facts on this blog some of my readers will find this worthwhile, will send them a link, thank you.
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