Big Event

[DoubleRBar]

This month's "Big Event" happened 62 years ago today (Tuesday). The athlete involved in this big event equaled the world record in a certain event. This athlete couldn't have picked a better time for this performance. I can tell you that this athlete was from Europe and the performance did not happen in Europe, Asia, or Africa. Can you name the athlete that equaled the world record and the event? Getting the meet shouldn't be too difficult. Good luck.

[Olli]

Must have been in Melbourne, but I don't remember those games too well, I wasn't born yet : )

[dukehjsteve]

If Morrow had not been a USA'er, his 20.6 would fit.

[DoubleRBar]

You're right, Olli, it did happen in Melbourne (1956). Let me give you some additional clues. Forget the men. This athlete tied her own world record which she had set about three months before her Olympic win.

[KDFINE]

I figured it was a female but thought the Olympics was earlier and that WR. I'm guessing that Iolanda Balas tied her WR.

[DoubleRBar]

Mildred McDaniel won the Melbourne high jump. You are correct, KDFINE, that it is a jumping event.

[dukehjsteve]

Only 1 event left, then... the LJ, but I don't know who she is.

[KDFINE]

Vyera Krepkina won in either '56 or '60 so I guess I'll guess it was her.

[DoubleRBar]

Krepkina was the Olympic champion at Rome (1960). She represented the Soviet Union. The woman we are looking for won gold in Melbourne in the long jump and came from a European country that today borders Germany, Belarus, and the Czech Republic.

[Pego]

I vaguely remember the Polish gal, but can't recall her name. I think it is a name that no English speaker can pronounce. I won't look it up, will wait until somebody gets it.

[DoubleRBar]

Good job KDFINE, dukehjsteve, and Pego. It is a Polish woman who tied her own world record in the long jump at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Another hint for her name. She shares the same initials as a famous movie director (American). This man directed such movies as "A Street Car Named Desire", "On The Waterfront", and "East of Eden".

[CookyMonzta]

I vaguely remember the Polish gal, but can't recall her name. I think it is a name that no English speaker can pronounce. I won't look it up, will wait until somebody gets it.

Could it be Elżbieta 'Ella' Krzesińska? Nearly 3 decades later (when last I read, if I remember correctly), she coached Judi Brown-King to 400H silver in Los Angeles 1984. She died in 2015.

[DoubleRBar]

You got her, CookyMonzta. Elzbieta Krzensinska tied her own world record of 6.35 (20' 10") in winning the Olympic gold medal in Melbourne (1956). She did live in the United States for several years and died just after Christmas in 2015. She also won the Olympic silver medal in 1960 (Rome). Good job, CookyMonzta.

[bambam1729]

Elzbieta Krysinska also just died - on 3 December 2018 in Warsaw

[DoubleRBar]

I thought she died about three years ago.