Rod Dixon

Rodney "Rod" Phillip Dixon (born July 13, 1950 in Nelson ) is a former New Zealand middle and long distance runner .

In 1972 he won the bronze medal over 1500 m at the Olympic Games in Munich . He also won bronze the following year at the World Cross Country Championships in 1973 in Waregem, where he also received the bronze medal with the New Zealand team.

At the British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch in 1974, he finished fourth in one of the most spectacular track races of the 1970s in one of the most spectacular track races of the 1970s, behind Filbert Bayi , John Walker , both of whom remained below the old world records, and Ben Jipcho . With a time of 3: 33.89 min, Dixon was just over one and a half seconds behind the new world record holder Bayi (3: 32.16 min).

In 1976 he finished fourth again in an even more dramatic race at the Montreal Olympics . At the beginning of the home stretch he had worked his way up to third place behind the Finn Lasse Virén and his compatriot Dick Quax and then lost the bronze medal to the German Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand , who literally dived to the finish line, 0.12 seconds behind . Dixon was just 0.74 seconds behind the Olympic champion Virén with 13: 25.50 min.

At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, his spikes were stolen just before the 5000 meter final . He finished eighth with borrowed shoes. A participation in the Olympic Games 1980 was denied him by the Olympic boycott of his country.

Meanwhile he was also successful in road races. In 1980 he won the Falmouth Road Race and in 1980 and 1981 the Philadelphia Half Marathon . Before the 1982 World Cross Country Championships , Fred Lebow , director of the New York City Marathon , asked him to start his race. Dixon won bronze and was now seriously considering complying with this request. Two months later, he ran the Auckland Marathon as a test and immediately won in 2:11:21 h. In the summer he won Bay to Breakers and as a spectator at the New York City Marathon he witnessed Alberto Salazar celebrating his third win in a row after a gripping duel with Rodolfo Gómez . He was now determined to win the following year and optimized his training towards that goal. In the summer he defended his title at Bay to Breakers with a course record.

The New York City Marathon was to be one of the most exciting in the history of this event. Geoff Smith and Gidamis Shahanga pulled away in the first half and passed the half marathon mark in 1:03:12 h. Soon after, Dixon took up the chase alone and eventually caught up with Shahanga. After 20 miles, Smith still had a 35-second advantage, but it gradually dwindled as Dixon, unlike Smith, was able to keep his pace. One kilometer from the finish, Dixon started his attack and overtook Smith 400 m from the finish, which he achieved with the course record of 2:08:59 hours nine seconds ahead of Smith.

In 1984 he was on his third Olympic start in tenth at the Marathon of the Games in Los Angeles . In 1985, for live reporting at the New York City Marathon, he accompanied the field of top runners on sections with a film camera and microphone attached to a helmet. With a third place in the Los Angeles Marathon 1986, he ended his marathon career.

Rod Dixon was trained by his older brother John, who followed the principles of Arthur Lydiard . Due to the very extensive basic training, which was run at a relatively low intensity, he was able to run up to 50 races in one season. After his active career, he worked as a trainer, race organizer and running advisor. He is currently a training advisor for the Los Angeles Marathon.

Personal bests

• 800 m : 1: 47.6 min, September 15, 1973, Rome
• 1000 m : 2: 17.2 min, July 30, 1974, Oslo
• 1500 m: 3: 33.89 min, February 2, 1974, Christchurch
• 1 mile : 3: 53.62 min, June 30, 1975, Stockholm
• 2000 m : 5: 01.67 min, 4th July 1975, London
• 3000 m : 7: 41.0 min, July 2nd 1974, Milan
• 5000 m: 13: 17.27 min, July 5th 1976, Stockholm
• 10 km road run: 28:11 min, July 4, 1981, Atlanta
• 15 km road race: 43:13 min, December 12, 1981, Alhambra
• Half marathon : 1:02:12 h, September 20, 1981, Philadelphia
• Marathon: 2:08:59, October 23, 1983, New York City

Web links

• Rod Dixon in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Rod Dixon in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Portrait of Joy Stephens in Wild Tomato, 2007
• A Brief Chat With Rod Dixon from Amby Burfoot at Runner's World , October 28, 2008
• Portrait created by Christopher Kelsall on Flotrack, February 13, 2009 ( Memento from December 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ YouTube : 1974 Commonwealth Games 1500m . (2:12 min; posted on December 26, 2009)
2. ↑ YouTube : 1976 Olympics 5000m (10:30 min; discontinued October 18, 2007)
3. ↑ Indy Runners: Interview with Rod Dixon . October 14, 2010
4. ↑ YouTube : Rod Dixon 1983 NY Marathon Finish . (4:06 min; discontinued February 19, 2009)
5. ↑ Sports Illustrated : There Was No Nixing Dixon . October 31, 1983
6. ^ The Guardian : Dixon hungry for another bite of cherry in the Big Apple . October 12, 2008
7. ↑ Running Times Magazine: Back to Manhattan . November 2008
8. ↑ Los Angeles Times : Rod Dixon to Wear Camera on His Head During Today's New York City Marathon . October 27, 1985
9. ↑ Arnd Krüger : Many roads lead to Olympia. The changes in training systems for medium and long distance runners (1850–1997). In: N. Gissel (Hrsg.): Sporting performance in change . Czwalina, Hamburg 1998, pp. 41-56.
10. ↑ Rod Dixon . (PDF 58 kB) La Marathon , archived from the original on March 4, 2011 ; accessed on May 2, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).