Payton Jordan was The Man in masters track.

Hall of Famer Payton Jordan, one of the most prolific masters record-setters in history and certainly our greatest age-group sprinter, died of cancer yesterday at his new home in Laguna Hills, according to news reports and his daughter. He would have turned 92 in mid-March. This is a stunning loss, and a personal blow to many, including me. I idolized him. Although obituaries will focus on his coaching career and his legendary 1968 Olympic team, I will remember him as a great cheerleader for masters track and a teller of amazing stories. I chatted with him a half a dozen times since meeting him in 1997 at the San Jose masters nationals, where he set an M80 world record at 200 meters that still stands. His picture graces my Wikipedia entry on masters track. Payton wouldn’t admit it, but his greatest disappointment may have been missing the Olympics during World War II (had they been held). He would have medaled.

In November 2007, he was the honored guest of the Southern California Striders masters track team, where accounts of his health battle were spellbinding. I took pictures of him there, and reported on his talk.

In 1996, Payton was elected to the first-ever class of the USATF Masters Track & Field Hall of Fame. He’s also in the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.

He’s still the listed M80 world record holder in the 100 (14.35) and 200 (30.89), but he no doubt would have extended his record streak had he not retired to care for his cancer-stricken wife, Marge, who died in 2006.

He won his share of world masters titles as well, sweeping the M70 1, 2 and 4 at the Eugene world meet in 1989 (13.28, 27.09 and 66.02) — repeating his earlier triple at the WAVA world meet in Melbourne.

Pete Mundle’s Masters Age Records chronicles his sprint bests over the years.

In the 100-meter dash:

At age 55 in 1972, he clocked 11.6 hand-timed.
Age 56: 11.6 again
Age 57: 11.6 again!
Age 58: 11.9
Age 59: 11.7
Age 60: 12.0
Age 61: 11.8
Age 62: 12.3
Age 63: 12.0
Age 64: 12.3
Age 65: 12.60
Age 66: 12.56
Age 67: 13.0
Age 68: 13.0
Age 70: 13.0
Age 71: 13.09
Age 72: 13.1
Age 73: 13.47
Age 74: 12.91
Age 75: 13.4
Age 77: 14.70
Age 78: 14.78
Age 80: 14.35
Age 81: 14.52

The Mt. SAC Relays Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 1983, lists some of Payton’s masters records:

    *  World 100m Masters Record
          o M70: 12.91
          o M75: 13.72
          o M80: 14.65
    * World 200m Masters Record
          o M70: 26.8
          o M75: 28.14
          o M80: 30.89
    * American 100m Masters Record
          o M60: 11.8
          o M65: 12.6
          o M70: 12.91
          o M75: 13.72
          o M80: 14.65
    * American 200m Masters Record
          o M70: 26.8
          o M75: 28.14
          o M80: 30.89

Here is the USATF news release on Payton’s passing. And here is one from Stanford University.

Palo Alto Online, a news source for Stanford (where Payton coached) posted this marvelous obituary:

Track coach legend Payton Jordan dies
He coached the record-setting 1968 U.S. Olympic track and field team; brought 1962 U.S.-Russia meet to Stanford

by Keith Peters
Palo Alto Online Staff

To anyone who knew him, Payton Jordan was simply called Coach. A friend to many and an innovator when it came to track and field, Jordan was synonymous with the sport. He was the coach of the record-setting 1968 U.S. Olympic track and field team and the head coach at Stanford for 23 years. On Thursday, one of the sport’s most famous personalities died at age 91.

Jordan was born in Whittier, Calif., on March 19, 1917. He died of cancer at his home in Laguna Hills in Southern California, daughter Cheryl Melville said.

In a letter dated Dec. 15, 2008, Jordan wrote about his latest challenge: “Have faced a few health problems, but just another challenge that I’m facing with a positive attitude, thus all will be well. Now is the time to be jolly.”

In “Champions for Life,” a book written about his life by two former Stanford track and field teammates Jack Scott and Jim Ward, Jordan was summed up thusly by Bob Murphy, a former Sports Information Director and Athletic Director at Stanford:

“The world champion,” Murphy wrote, “was conceived for people like Payton Jordan. He was a champion as a youngster growing up in Southern California and when he attended the University of Southern California. He coached an endless stream of champions at Occidental College and at Stanford for many years. Payton will never be forgotten as Head Coach of the 1968 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team. Later, he became a champion beyond all others in Masters competition.

“He always has been known as ‘Coach,’ but it should be noted that his coaching has always extended far beyond the limits of a running track or any kind of field. His depth of knowledge and infectious enthusiasm made an attentive student-athlete appreciate that any horizon of opportunity was within reach with solid preparation and hard work.

“For Payton, the term coach is too limited. He has been, and always will be, an enormous source of inspiration and confidence. In addition, Payton has been an organizer, a showman, a promoter, a businessman, a counselor — and, if you are one of those so fortunate, a very special friend . . . He has been our Champion for years.”

Jordan led the U.S. track team to a record 24 medals, 12 of them gold, at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He served as Stanford’s track and field coach from 1957-79 and coached seven Olympians, six world recordholders and six national champions. Earlier this decade, he had a Stanford-based track meet named after him — the Payton Jordan U.S. Open — and the veteran often attended. A college meet on The Farm each spring now carries his name — the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.

As landmarks go, Jordan stood as tall as Hoover Tower with his accomplishments and influence going beyond geographical barriers.

Jordan was the driving force behind the legendary USA-USSR track meet at Stanford Stadium in 1962. The meet attracted 150,000 spectators over two days and gave American track and field fans their first look at Russian athletes. Jordan was also the meet director for the 1960 U.S. Olympic Trials at Stanford.

Years ago, Jordan recalled how his ’68 Olympic team excelled despite some black athletes threatening to boycott the games over a push for civil rights.

“We just sat down and talked about how hard everyone worked for so long to get ready for this lifetime opportunity,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1989. “It was like the high altitude in Mexico City — something we weren’t used to — or like an injury. It was just something we had to work through and overcome.”

Before his coaching career, Jordan broke world records at the University of Southern California — in the 440-yard relay in 1938 and the 100-yard dash on grass in 1941. His records stood for decades. He also played football for USC and played in the 1939 Rose Bowl.

Instead of competing in the 1940 and 1944 Olympics, which were canceled due to World War II, Jordan joined the Navy.

After retirement, he laced up his running shoes to compete in masters races. He set six world age-group records in the sprints. In 1997, he set the last of his world records in the 100 meters (14.65) and 200 meters (30.89). His final masters world mark came in the 100-yard dash at the 1998 Penn Relays at age 80. With his shock of white hair and tanned complexion, Jordan was forever the perfect example of how an athlete could age gracefully while st
ill being competitive.

He is a member of countless Halls of Fame, including Stanford, USC, USA Track & Field, and Mt. SAC Relays. He was awarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Fitness Award by the U.S. Sports Academy in 1999.

He was married to his wife, Marge, for 66 years. She passed away in 2006. Jordan had been battling the effects of cancer in recent years, but was always upbeat in his conversations throughout his fight.

John Wooden, the legendary former UCLA basketball coach who is in his late 90s, said of Jordan in “Champions for Life”:

“He is one of the finest teachers of sports. However, his knowledge and ability to teach are only part of his success. Equally important are his love and consideration for the athletes who have been fortunate to be under his supervision. The exemplary personal life he has lived serves as a role model for all those who know him.”

In June 2007, a writer for a local Santa Barbara paper wrote this great profile:

Sprinter Payton Jordan Lives a Masterful Life
The Sweetness of the Silver Streak

By John Zant
Thursday, June 28, 2007

The names Payton and Jordan go together like Sweetness and Air, which happen to be the nicknames of Chicago sports legends Walter Payton and Michael Jordan. But long before they made headlines, a lad named Payton Jordan from Pasadena was one of the fastest human beings you never heard of. He came into his prime in 1940, when the world was too preoccupied with invasions and air raids to bother with the Olympic Games.

Payton Jordan’s commitment to the athletic life grew stronger during those times. After graduating from USC, where he was captain of the track team and a member of the 1939 Rose Bowl football team, he continued competing as a sprinter and was a Service All-America football player during World War II. Then he began a storied career as a coach at Occidental College and Stanford University. He reached the pinnacle of his profession when he was appointed head coach of the U.S. track and field team that achieved a record haul of gold medals at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

In the next decade, he discovered Masters competition. He still had the ability to accelerate down the track, lifting his knees high. With his blond hair turning shiny, Jordan became known as the Silver Streak. He set numerous world sprinting records for men from age 55 on up.

That phase of his life was winding down nine years ago when Jordan and his wife, Marge, moved to Santa Barbara. They were familiar with the city from visiting former Stanford football coach “Cactus” Jack Curtice, who ended his career at UCSB. They joined the retirement community at Vista Del Monte. Payton hung out at the City College track, dispensing advice and encouragement to any athlete who sought his counsel.

He could rhapsodize about sports. “For all its warts, it’s one of the wonderful ways to bring vitality into the world,” Jordan said. “Young people striving to be the best … men and women expressing themselves to the fullest. You put on those running shorts and toe the line. You look down the track, alone in your lane. There’s nobody that can substitute for you, no one to give you more courage. There’s just the tape and the stopwatch. No excuses. No second chances.”

He set his last world record in the 100-meter dash at the Penn Relays in 1998.

“I hadn’t been there at Franklin Field since 1941 when I won the national championship (in 10.3 seconds),” he said. “There was the same crowd, the same brick wall, the same hair-raising noise. When I went to the line I had the same crazy emotional feelings: ‘This is the time. I’ve got to perform. This is life. Wow! I’m enjoying this.'”

The 81-year-old Silver Streak bolted down the track and hit the finish line in 14.52 seconds. Somebody computed that it was equivalent to 9.83 (then the fastest ever recorded) by a sprinter in his prime.

Vista Del Monte opened its Fitness and Aquatic Center for seniors in 2000. Jordan was an avatar in their midst. He was Sweetness, ever ready to smile, and Air, encouraging his peers to engage in activities that will pump oxygen into their lungs.

“His life is so inspirational,” said Laurie Yttri, executive director at Vista Del Monte. “He takes his health and activity level seriously, but there’s no barrier to beginners because of his spirit and interpersonal skills. He’s been a great friend. We’ll miss him.”

Payton Jordan is moving this week to Laguna Beach, closer to his two daughters and their families. He’s leaving with good memories but sad ones too. Marge died last November.

“We were very happy here,” he said. “I’m leaving lots of great friends, but emotionally this change will do me good. At 90, I’m reflective on how lucky I’ve been and how good my life has been because of the people around me.”

They were lucky too.

Here’s Payton with Joy Upshaw-Margerum and her dad, Monte Upshaw:

 
And Payton as we’ll never forget him — setting one of his many records (this one being the M80 world record for 200 meters at San Jose in 1997):