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The 14Apr2014 hardcopy issue of High Country News, published in Colorado, has an article about a Hopi 10K race, available online with 30Sep2013 blog date, which claims in passing that Louis Tewanima in winning a 10000 silver at the 1912 Olympics had set an American Record that lasted until Billy Mills in 1964. I sent High Country News a letter, slightly abbreviated below:
"[Track statisticians] are used to seeing assertions, from sources outside the sport, that make mistaken claims about track & field records. So when I read that a 10,000-meter American Record set at the Olympics (July 11, 1912) by Louis Tewanima (Hopi) had lasted 52 years until Billy Mills (Sioux) at the 1964 {Olympics], it strained credibility..., and I checked my sources. Even Bob Beamon's long jump...World Record...only lasted 23 years.... Research result: Tewanima's time (32:06-3/5) wasn't even an American Record when he ran it. Willie Kramer had run 31:43-3/5 at the Eastern Olympic Trials, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 8, 1912. That record was then broken ten times by runners chronologically situated between Kramer and Mills.
"That said, Native American runners have great talent, including in Mexico where the Tarahumara ultramarathoners are situated. Former Adams State coach Joe Vigil, now in Tucson, has studied the Tarahumaras, the Kenyans, and many others, as part of his educational repertoire. His most recent success is with Brenda Martinez (California Riverside, 2010), who won the 800 bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships...."
"[Track statisticians] are used to seeing assertions, from sources outside the sport, that make mistaken claims about track & field records. So when I read that a 10,000-meter American Record set at the Olympics (July 11, 1912) by Louis Tewanima (Hopi) had lasted 52 years until Billy Mills (Sioux) at the 1964 {Olympics], it strained credibility..., and I checked my sources. Even Bob Beamon's long jump...World Record...only lasted 23 years.... Research result: Tewanima's time (32:06-3/5) wasn't even an American Record when he ran it. Willie Kramer had run 31:43-3/5 at the Eastern Olympic Trials, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 8, 1912. That record was then broken ten times by runners chronologically situated between Kramer and Mills.
"That said, Native American runners have great talent, including in Mexico where the Tarahumara ultramarathoners are situated. Former Adams State coach Joe Vigil, now in Tucson, has studied the Tarahumaras, the Kenyans, and many others, as part of his educational repertoire. His most recent success is with Brenda Martinez (California Riverside, 2010), who won the 800 bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships...."