Arthur Newton

athletics
gold	1904	4 miles crew
bronze	1904	2590 m obstacle
bronze	1904	marathon

Arthur Newton ( Arthur Lewis Newton ; born January 31, 1883 in Upton , Massachusetts , † July 19, 1950 in Worcester , Massachusetts) was an American long-distance runner and Olympic champion .

The only 1.60 m tall Newton was accepted as a teenager at the renowned New York Athletic Club (NYAC) because of his running talent . In 1900 he won a run for juniors in the mile run organized by the Amateur Athletic Union .

Participation in the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris was in prospect, but the participants were named almost exclusively by the best universities and colleges in the USA. However, Newton was not a student. However, there was no outstanding US American athlete in long-distance running at that time, which is why the national championships from 1895 to 1898 did not run a run over five miles and from 1897 to 1902 no run over three miles. In 1899 the brothers Alex Grant (who started the 800m and 4000m obstacle course in Paris) and Dick Grant (who competed in the Olympic marathon in Paris) became the first US champions over five miles since 1894 (a five-mile run or a comparable track distance was not on the Olympic program of 1900).

When looking for a participant for the marathon in Paris, the first qualifying competition in US Olympic history took place. The elimination fights known at the present time as the US Trials were then regularly held only from 1908 onwards. On June 17, 1900, a 15-mile (24.14 km) run was held on Long Island ( New York ), which Arthur Newton won with 1:28:55 h and thus secured his participation in the Games in Paris.

Newton first took part in the obstacle course over 2500 meters in Paris on July 15th . On that day, he was 17 years and 166 days old, making him the youngest American athlete ever to compete in the Olympics. He finished fourth.

Four days later, the Olympic marathon took place in Paris at temperatures of up to 39 ° C. It was the hottest run in Olympic history. In addition, the run was overshadowed by extremely poor organization, with no route marking, which is why a number of athletes claimed that the winner, Michel Théato , and the second, Émile Champion , shortened the route because of their local knowledge. For years Newton was convinced that he had won the race, because he said he was in the lead halfway through the race and would not have been overtaken by anyone afterwards. He was officially ranked fifth.

Back in the USA that same year he took part in the national championships and won the title over five miles in 27: 41.4 minutes. When he participated again in 1902, he won the two-mile obstacle course and came third in the one-mile run.

The track and field competitions at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis were considered a prestigious competition among clubs by various US athletics clubs. They sent their best athletes to the Games, including Arthur Newton, who was posted by the New York Athletic Club .

On August 29, Newton started in the obstacle course over 2590 meters. Newton reached third place without ever being able to endanger the two runners in front of him.

Just one day later, Newton was at the start of the marathon. Newton was almost always in the lead until halfway through the race, but then fell back to third place, which he was able to hold until the finish. Similar to the run in Paris, however, this marathon was also overshadowed by scandals. An application for the disqualification of the winner Thomas Hicks because of unilateral taking advantage of constant support during the competition was rejected. Newton felt betrayed again, but this time he could at least comfort himself with a medal. Newton was the first runner in the history of the Olympic marathon who could finish two runs in a row.

On September 3, Newton finally achieved his greatest sporting success as an Olympic champion in the team run over four miles. Together with George Underwood , Paul Pilgrim , Howard Valentine and David Munson he started for the New York Athletic Club, the only opponent was the team of the Chicago Athletic Association. A run was held in which all ten runners (five for each team) took part. The team evaluation was based on the number of places (1st place = 1 point; 2nd place = 2 points etc.). As the winner of the run in 21: 17.8 min and thus the lowest place figure, Newton contributed significantly to the victory of his team.

Placements at the Olympic Games:

• II. Olympic Games 1900, Paris
  • 2500 m obstacle - fourth with unknown time (gold to George Orton from Canada with 7: 34.4 min)
  • Marathon - fifth with 4:04:12 h (gold to Michel Théato from Luxembourg with 2:59:45 h)
• III. 1904 Olympic Games, St. Louis
  • 4 Mile Team - Gold with the New York Athletic Club Team (Silver to Chicago Athletic Association )
  • 2500 m obstacle - bronze with 7: 46.0 min (gold to James Lightbody from the USA with 7: 39.6 min; silver to John Daly from the United Kingdom with 7: 40.6 min)
  • Marathon - bronze with 3:47:33 h (gold to Thomas Hicks from the USA with 3:28:53 h; silver to Albert Corey from the USA with 3:34:52 h)

After 1904 Newton took part in competitions for a few years, but he could no longer build on his successes. Nothing is known about his life outside of sport.

Web links

• Arthur Newton in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )