Horace Ashenfelter III (January 23, 1923 – January 6, 2018)[1] was an American athlete. He competed in international athletics from 1947 to 1956. During his career he won fifteen national AAU titles and three collegiate national titles.
Although he was considered a long shot, Ashenfelter was the surprise winner of the steeplechase at the 1952 Summer OlympicsatHelsinki with a dramatic surge on the last lap following the final water jump after trailing substantially early in the race. In what was considered an early athletic Cold war battle, he finished ahead of Vladimir Kazantsev of the USSR and John DisleyofGreat Britain, and broke Kazantsev's unofficial world record (the IAAF did not accept official records in the steeplechase until 1954) in the process. Since Ashenfelter worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation,[2] it led to humorous comments about him being the first American spy who allowed himself to be chased by a Russian. In addition, Ashenfelter won the Sullivan Award as outstanding amateur athlete for the year 1952.
Ashenfelter won the Millrose Games two-mile run from 1952 to 1955 and again in 1957. His best winning time was in 1954 at 8:53.3. He won the USA Cross Country Championships back-to-back in 1954–1955, three years after his Olympian younger brother Bill Ashenfelter had won the same championship, the only set of brothers to both win the event.
Ashenfelter lived in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, where the Ashenfelter 8k Classic is held annually in his honor.[2][4] The indoor track facility at his alma mater, Penn State, is named in his honor.[5]
Ashenfelter died at a nursing home in West Orange, New Jersey, on January 6, 2018, 17 days before his 95th birthday.[2]
^ abcdMcFadden, Robert D."Horace Ashenfelter, Olympic Victor of a Cold War Showdown, Dies at 94", The New York Times, January 7, 2018. Accessed January 7, 2018. "Horace Ashenfelter, an American runner who set a world record in the steeplechase at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, beating an overwhelmingly favored Soviet champion in what was billed as a test of Cold War supremacy, died on Saturday morning in a nursing home in West Orange, N.J.... He retired in 1993 but continued to run frequently in Glen Ridge, N.J., where he lived. The town’s annual Thanksgiving Day run is called the Ashenfelter eight-kilometer classic."
Wallechinsky, David and Jamie Loucky (2008). "Track & Field (Men): 3000-Meter Steeplechase". In The Complete Book of the Olympics – 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. pp. 169–70.
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Distance: Until 1924 the event was 5 miles; from 1925–27 and from 1929–31 it was over 6 miles.
*Distances have varied as follows: 2 Miles (1899–1931), 5000 meters (1933–1939), 3 Miles 1932, (1940–1986) and odd numbered years since 2015, and 3000 meters (1987–2014) and even numbered years since 2014
Ville Ritola (FIN)
Tore Sjöstrand (SWE)
Horace Ashenfelter (USA)
Chris Brasher (GBR)
Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak (POL)
Gaston Roelants (BEL)
Amos Biwott (KEN)
Bronisław Malinowski (POL)
Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR)
