Can Numbers Rate Athletes?

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday today (Thursday) to two Olympic champions with a total of two Olympic gold medals and one Olympic bronze medal.

Our birthday athletes were both born on a Friday, a total of 178 years ago today.

The older person was 56 when the younger champion was born.

Forget the hurdles when thinking about these two and their events.

Some may say that one of our birthday people was born on May 24, however my research says otherwise.

These individuals competed in a total of three Olympic Games.

You might know that the younger person was 37 years old when the older athlete died.

If you traveled between the two cities where these champions were born, you would cover approximately 6,389 miles (10,282 kms).

One of our birthday people set a world record in winning the Olympic gold medal and was (and still is) the only person in track & field history to accomplish a certain feat.

Born in what is now an Olympic city, this athlete was 67 when the Olympic Games came to the city of this person's birth.

Both athletes were born during an Olympic year.

About ten years after the older athlete died, the World Championships were held in the city where this champion passed away in July.

Interesting to note that one of our birthday people competed in three different events at the Olympics while the other athlete competed in just one Olympic event.

Time to name both of these champions on this 21st Thursday of 2021.

[Olli]

From your clues I infer that the older athlete was born in Sapporo 1904 and died in Osaka 1997. I think he might have been a Japanese triple jumper, but I don't remember his name.

[noone]

I believe you mean Chuhei Nambu

[Atticus]

Dang, I thought this thread was going to be a screed against the inequities of the WA Ranking system!

Carry on.

[DoubleRBar]

Chuhei Nambu was born 117 years ago today in Sapporo, Japan. Nice job, noone.

Nambu competed in Amsterdam (1928) in three events: He didn't make the final in the four by 100 relay or the long jump but he did finish in fourth place in the triple jump.

In October of 1931 (just after the Empire State Building opened in New York), Chuhei Nambu broke the world record in the long jump when he cleared 7.98 (26' 2 1/4") in a meet in Tokyo, Japan.

About nine months later in Los Angeles, Nambu won the Olympic triple jump gold medal with another world record at 15.72 (51' 7"). He became the first (and since then, the only person) to hold the world record in the two horizontal jumps.

Nambu made the Japanese Olympic team to Los Angeles (1932) in the same three events from Amsterdam. In the Los Angeles Coliseum, Nambu ran the second leg on the fifth place four by 100 relay team for Japan. He took the Olympic bronze medal in the long jump and then won the triple jump with that world record leap.

Chuhei Nambu was 93 years old when he passed away in July of 1997 in Osaka, Japan.

Thank you Olli, noone, and Atticus. Unfortunately, there were no world ranking systems sanctioned by the I.A.A.F. when Nambu was competing.

[gh]

... Unfortunately, there were no world ranking systems sanctioned by the I.A.A.F. when Nambu was competing.

and, more importantly, none by T&FN either!

[LopenUupunut]

Ray Armstead for the other champion?

[DoubleRBar]

Happy birthday (61) today to Ray Armstead. LopenUupunut, you are good. Armstead was born in St. Louis, Missouri 61 years ago today.

Ray Armstead finished in fourth place in the 400 (45.25) at the 1984 U.S. Olympic Trials in the Los Angeles Coliseum. That finish put him on the four by 400 relay team that won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. Armstead ran the second leg (43.97) on the team that won in 2:57.91. It was Alonzo Babers (won the Olympic 400) who took the lead for the U.S. with his split of 43.75 on the third leg. Great Britain got the silver medal and Nigeria had the bronze. Australia ran 2:59.70 for fourth place.

Thank you, LopenUupunut.