Sydney Maree

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Sydney Maree (born September 9, 1956 in Atteridgeville , Transvaal , South Africa ) is a former American middle and long distance runner of South African origin.

Life

Maree, who was classified as Colored under the apartheid system , grew up in a township . He was given his mother's maiden name because his father was wanted by the security police as a member of the ANC Youth League . His running talent was recognized in high school, and in 1976, in his first competition over a mile , he stayed under the magical four-minute limit with 3: 57.9 minutes. A year later the newspaper The Citizen financed a trip to the USA - Maree did not know that the money for it, as it later turned out in the Muldergate affair , came from the South African government, which wanted to improve its image. Maree passed a college entrance test and accepted an offer for an athletic scholarship from Villanova University . Here he trained with Jumbo Elliott , who got the maximum out of his runners with a very large number of intense speed runs, but many of them did not reach their peak at the right time.

His sporting progress soon led to political entanglements, as South Africans were excluded from international competitions because of the sports boycott. At the end of 1980 he married the American Lisa Rhoden (the marriage, which was divorced in 2004, had five children). Since Maree was now promised to become a US citizen in the foreseeable future, the IAAF released him from the sanctions in early 1981 and let him start under the US flag. On September 9, he set a US record for the mile with 3: 48.83 minutes; only Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett had been faster before. Shortly thereafter, he won the premiere of the First Avenue Mile , a one-mile road race , in 3: 47.52 minutes. To this day, this time is an event record. In 1982 he ran the world best time of the year over 1500 m with 3: 32.12 min .

While he did not get beyond the semi-finals of the 1500 meter run at the World Athletics Championships in Helsinki in 1983 , he set a world record over this distance two weeks later on August 28 at the ASV Sportfest in Cologne with 3: 31.24 minutes .

In 1984 he received US citizenship and qualified for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles , but renounced a start due to an injury.

1985 he fought a thrilling duel with Saïd Aouita at the Bislett Games over 5000 m on July 27 , in which the Moroccan finally won with the world record of 13: 00.40 min and Maree was the third fastest person over this distance with 13: 01.15 min set a US record that was broken by Bob Kennedy in 1996 . On August 25th, Maree broke the 3:30 minute mark for the 1500 m as the third runner after Steve Cram and Saïd Aouita; this US record of 3: 29.77 minutes was only improved in 2006 by Bernard Lagat .

Although he continued to hold top positions in the world's top lists, he was denied a medal success at major sporting events. At the 1987 World Championships in Rome he was eleventh and at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul fifth over 5000 m. At the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 1989 in Budapest he took the lead over 1500 m immediately after the start and fell back to fourth place on the last 100 m. Competitions like this earned him the reputation of a bad tactician; As early as 1984, Steve Cram, when asked about his US rival's prospects for the Olympic Games, replied: "He succeeds in one out of seven races, but maybe he's lucky."

In 1991 Maree ended his sporting career and started working for the investment company Fleming Martin . In 1995 he moved back to South Africa, where he continued to work as a businessman. As head of the National Empowerment Fund , he was charged with fraud in 2004 and sentenced in 2008 to ten years' imprisonment, five of which were suspended. Maree, who protests his innocence, has appealed against the judgment.

Personal bests

  • 1500 m: 3: 29.77 min, August 25, 1985, Cologne (former US record)
  • 1 mile: 3: 48.83 min, September 9, 1981, Rieti (former US record)
  • 2000 m : 4: 54.20 min, September 4, 1985, Rieti (former US record)
  • 3000 m : 7: 33.37 min, July 17th 1982, London (former US record)
    • Hall: 7: 45.90 min, February 27, 1990, Seville
  • 5000 m: 13: 01.15 min, July 27, 1985, Oslo (former US record)
  • 10,000 m : 28: 21.46 min, April 11, 1980, Knoxville

Awards

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Scotland on Sunday: South African icons run into troubled times . December 5, 2004
  2. ↑ 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; see. also Arnd Krüger: Periodization or Peaking at the right time. In: Track Technique 54, 1973, pp. 1720-1724.
  3. ↑ Sports Illustrated : On The Straight And Narrow . 5th October 1981
  4. ^ A b Wall Street Journal : The Record That Won't Go Away . September 24, 2010
  5. ↑ Sports Illustrated : Fast Finish To A Long Summer . 5th September 1983
  6. ^ Villanova Running: The Strange Legacy of Sydney Maree . December 17, 2009
  7. ↑ List of recipients of the medal 2003 (English), accessed on June 19, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Maree, Sydney
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American middle and long distance runner of South African origin
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Atteridgeville , Transvaal