Frank Shorter: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|American long-distance runner (born 1947)}}

| birth_place = [[Munich]], [[Germany]]

'''Frank Charles Shorter''' (born October 31, 1947) is an American former [[long-distance runner]] who won the gold medal in the [[marathon]] at the [[1972 Summer Olympics]] and the silver medal at the [[1976 Summer Olympics]]. His Olympic success, along with the achievements of other American runners, is credited with igniting the [[running boom]] in the United States during the 1970s.<ref>[http://republicanherald.com/sports/u-s-in-another-running-boom-1.469153 Republican Herald]. Republican Herald. Retrieved on July 5, 2016.</ref><ref>[http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports_globetrotting/2008/10/marathon-men-th.html Chicago Tribune October 10, 2008 by [[Phil Hersh]]. Newsblogs.chicagotribune.com (October 10, 2008). Retrieved on 2016-07-05.</ref><ref>[http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=153 Hall of Fame] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918170456/http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=153 |date=September 18, 2018 }}. USATF (October 31, 1947). Retrieved on 2016-07-05.</ref><ref>Pat Borzi (May 11, 2012) [https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2012/05/%E2%80%98marathon-man%E2%80%99-frank-shorter-reflects-running-boom-he-helped-create ‘Marathon'Marathon man’man' Frank Shorter reflects on the running boom he helped create] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815101613/https://www.minnpost.com/sports/2012/05/%E2%80%98marathon-man%E2%80%99-frank-shorter-reflects-running-boom-he-helped-create |date=August 15, 2016 }}.minnpost.com</ref><ref>[http://www.personal.psu.edu/njg140/Running%20Boom%20with%20pics.html The 1970s Running Boom] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194348/http://www.personal.psu.edu/njg140/Running%20Boom%20with%20pics.html |date=March 4, 2016 }}. psu.edu</ref>

Frank Shorter was born in [[Munich]], [[Allied-occupied Germany|Germany]], where his father, physician Samuel S. Shorter, served in the [[U.S. Army]]. He grew up in [[Middletown, Orange County, New York|Middletown, New York]], where a street was named in his honor (Frank Shorter Way). Frank Shorter Way was formerly part of the Orange Classic 10K course route, which Shorter won in its inaugural race in 1981.<ref>[http://www.recordonline.com/article/20020609/SPORTS/306099980 Shorter gives thumbs-up to Classic alterations]</ref> After earning his [[high school]] diploma from the [[Northfield Mount Hermon School|Mount Hermon School]] in [[Gill, Massachusetts]], in 1965, Shorter graduated from [[Yale University]] in New Haven, Connecticut, with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree (B.A.) in 1969, and the [[University of Florida College of Law]] in Gainesville, Florida, with a [[Juris Doctor]] degree (J.D.) in 1974.<ref name=usatfhofshorter/>

In the October 2011 issue of ''[[Runner's World]],'' an article by John Brant detailed the traumatic household life Frank and his siblings suffered at the hands of his extremely abusive father and the buckle end of his belt. With the publication of the ''Runner's World'' article, Shorter will beginbegan to elaborate on stopping similar cycles of violence in more detail and in public.<ref>John Brant (October 2011). [https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a21753998/frank-shorters-story/ Frank's Story]. ''[[Runner's World]].'' Retrieved on September 19, 2019.</ref>

Shorter achieved his greatest recognition in the [[marathon]], and he is the only American athlete to win two medals in the Olympic marathon.<ref name=sr>Sports Reference, Olympic Sports, [https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sh/frank-shorter-1.html Frank Shorter] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214180849/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sh/frank-shorter-1.html |date=December 14, 2013 }}. Retrieved March 5, 2010.</ref> At the [[1972 Summer Olympics|Munich Games]]—which coincidentally is Shorter's place of birth— he finished fifth in the 10,000-meter final, breaking the American record for the event that he had established in his qualifying heat.<ref name=usatfhofshorter>USA Track & Field, Hall of Fame, [http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=153 Frank Shorter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918170456/http://www.usatf.org/halloffame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=153 |date=September 18, 2018 }}. Retrieved March 5, 2010.</ref> A few days later, he won the gold medal in the marathon. This ultimate achievement was marred by an [[impostor]]imposter, [[West Germany|West German]] student Norbert Sudhaus,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130730034402/http://www.colorsport.co.uk/comment/sports-views/Frank-Shorter "Olympic Memories: Munich's Marathon Imposter, Frank Shorter, and the 'Running Boom' of the 1970s"]. Colorsport, (May 3, 2012)</ref> who ran into [[Olympic Stadium (Munich)|Olympic Stadium]] ahead of Shorter. Shorter was not bothered by the silence from the crowd who had been duped into thinking that he was running for the silver medal. Shorter was confident that he was going to win the gold medal because he knew that no competing runner had passed him.<ref>[http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun/15/recalling-horror-1972/ Kantowski, Ron. "Recalling the horror of 1972," '&#39;"Las Vegas'&#39; (NV) '&#39;Sun'&#39;", Monday, June 15, 2009]. Lasvegassun.com. Retrieved on July 5, 2016.</ref> He received the [[James E. Sullivan Award]] afterwards as the top amateur athlete in the United States.<ref name=usatfhofshorter/> At the [[1976 Summer Olympics]] in [[Montreal, Canada|Montreal]], Shorter dropped out of the 10,000 meters in order to concentrate exclusively on the marathon, but he wonwinning the silver medal in the event,marathon<ref name=usatfhofshorter/> and finishing behind previously unheralded [[Waldemar Cierpinski]] of [[East Germany]].<ref>Sports Reference, Olympic Sports, [https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ci/waldemar-cierpinski-1.html Waldemar Cierpinski] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131054110/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ci/waldemar-cierpinski-1.html |date=January 31, 2012 }}. Retrieved March 5, 2010. Cierpinski repeated as the gold medalist at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, one of only two athletes to win the Olympic Marathon twice.</ref> Cierpinski was later implicated as a part of the state-sponsored doping program by East German track and field research files uncovered by [[Werner Franke]] at the [[Stasi]] headquarters in [[Leipzig]] in the late 1990s. There were suspicions about other East German athletes during the Montreal Olympics, including the East German women's swimming team led by [[Kornelia Ender]]; the East German women won eleven of the thirteen events.<ref>{{cite web|author=Gare Joyce Special to Page 2 (Archive) |url=httphttps://sportswww.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=joyce/080822 |title=Joyce: Marathon fraud – ESPN Page 2 |publisher=Sports.espn.go.com[[ESPN]] |date=August 25, 2008 }}</ref>

From 2000 to 2003, Shorter was the chairman of the [[United States Anti-Doping Agency]], a body that he helped to establish.<ref>{{cite nameweb |last1=epstein8052008>DavidCalderwood Epstein|first1=Bethany |title=Frank Shorter Biography, "[httpFacts, & Career |url=https://sportsillustrated.cnnstudy.com/2008learn/olympicslesson/2008/07/01/Shorterfrank-shorter-biography-facts-career.cuw/html Catching Up with Frank Shorter]," ''Sports Illustrated'' (August 5, 2008)|website=study.com |access-date=September Retrieved March 516, 2010.2023}}</ref>

Shorter was featured as a prominent character, played by [[Jeremy Sisto]], in the 1998 film ''[[Without Limits]].'' The film follows the life of Shorter's contemporary, training partner, Olympic teammate and sometime rival, [[Steve Prefontaine]].<ref name="epstein8052008">David Epstein, "[https://www.si.com/olympics/2008/08/05/shorter-cuw Catching Up with Frank Shorter]," ''Sports Illustrated'' (August 5, 2008). Retrieved March 5, 2010.</ref> Shorter was the next to last person to see Prefontaine alive before he died in an automobile accident.

APreviously a long-time resident of [[Boulder, Colorado]], Shorter co-founded the [[Bolder Boulder]] in 1979. The annual 10k race is a popular Memorial Day event, which culminates with a tribute to U.S. Armed Forces at Folsom Field at the University of Colorado. A life-size bronze statue of Shorter stands outside the stadium.

[[Category:SportspeopleAthletes from Munich]]

[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)]]

[[Category:Yale UniversityBulldogs alumnimen's track and field athletes]]