Bill Bonthron
{{Short description|American middle-distance runner}}
William Robert Bonthron (November 1, 1912 – January 17, 1983){{cite web |url=http://sports.nyhistory.org/bill-bonthron/ |title=Bill Bonthron |access-date=20 May 2013 |publisher=New-York Historical Society}} was an American middle-distance runner who held the world record at 1500 meters for two years.
Career
Bonthron studied at Princeton University.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19350104&id=k4AjAAAAIBAJ&pg=532,399574 |publisher=Lewiston Evening Journal |title=(No. 6-JUNE) |date=January 4, 1935 |access-date=May 20, 2013}} In 1933, his junior year, Bonthron was IC4A champion at both 800 meters and 1500 meters{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19340525&id=WHYbAAAAIBAJ&pg=3539,2824143 |title=I.C.4-A Track Games Start |author=Cameron, Stuart |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |date=May 25, 1934 |access-date=May 20, 2013}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/nc/ic4a.htm |magazine=Athletics Weekly |title=IC4A CHAMPIONSHIPS (1876-1942) |author=Squire, Jesse |access-date=May 20, 2013}} and then set an American record in a Princeton mile race against New Zealand's Jack Lovelock. Bonthron led most of the way and attempted to pull away in the final backstretch, only to be overhauled by Lovelock, who ran the last lap in 58.9 seconds to set a new world record of 4:07.6.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19330717&id=xUkwAAAAIBAJ&pg=6259,1854363 |newspaper=The Montreal Gazette |title=Lovelock, Oxford, Sets World Mark Of 4:07.6 In Mile |date=17 July 1933 |access-date=20 May 2013}}{{cite book |title=Huippu-urheilun historia |year=1935 |publisher=Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö |author=Jukola, Martti |language=fi}} Bonthron finished seven yards back in 4:08.7, also under Jules Ladoumègue's old world mark.
In February 1934 Bonthron defeated 1932 and 1933 NCAA champion Glenn Cunningham in an indoor meet in New York by several inches.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19340219&id=iD5HAAAAIBAJ&pg=2924,3568010On |title=Bill Bonthron Winner Baxter Mile at Gotham |date=February 19, 1934 |access-date=May 20, 2013 |publisher=The Lewiston Daily Sun}} On June 16 Bonthron was again on the losing end of a mile world record, as Cunningham beat him in the Princeton Invitational Mile in 4:06.7.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19340617&id=2_wsAAAAIBAJ&pg=1709,5894191 |title=Princeton Ace, Bill Bonthron, Trails Kansan |date=June 17, 1934 |access-date=May 20, 2013 |publisher=The Palm Beach Post-Times}} However, Bonthron came back to beat Cunningham at the NCAA championships on June 23 in a meet record time of 4:08.9.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/ncaa_history_pdfs/06-ncaam1500.pdf |magazine=Track & Field News |author=Hill, E. Garry |access-date=19 May 2013 |title=1500m/MILE }} {{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} A week later at the national championships in Milwaukee, Bonthron defeated Cunningham again. The race was over 1500 meters; Cunningham went out hard and was still well ahead a hundred yards from the tape, but Bonthron came through with a blistering sprint to win by two feet in a new world record time of 3:48.8.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19340702&id=AX0tAAAAIBAJ&pg=5691,74957 |title=Cunningham Loses Race to Bonthron |date=July 2, 1934 |access-date=May 20, 2013}}{{cite magazine |title=A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2011 |author1=Mallon, Bill |author2=Buchanan, Ian |author3=Track & Field News |author3-link=Track & Field News |url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/tafn-presults?list_id=36&sex_id=M&event_id=5 |access-date=20 May 2013 |magazine=Track & Field News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714092846/http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/tafn-presults?list_id=36&sex_id=M&event_id=5 |archive-date=2016-07-14 |url-status=dead }} Cunningham's time was 3:48.9, also inside Luigi Beccali's previous record of 3:49.0. Bonthron won the 1934 Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19350103&id=JRUaAAAAIBAJ&pg=2597,280846 |title=Bonthron Wins Sullivan Award; Metcalfe Third |date=January 3, 1935 |access-date=May 20, 2013 |publisher=The Milwaukee Journal}}
Although Bonthron originally intended to retire from running after graduating,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19340703&id=q7VRAAAAIBAJ&pg=4902,401997 |title=Bonthron Will Retire This Fall |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=July 3, 1934 |access-date=May 20, 2013}} he ended up not doing so; he, Cunningham and Gene Venzke remained America's leading milers in 1935.{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1936/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417171515/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1936/ATH/mens-1500-metres.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's 1,500 metres |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |access-date=20 May 2013}} However, Bonthron was not in his best shape in 1936 and only placed fourth at the Olympic Trials (behind Cunningham, Archie San Romani and Venzke),{{cite web |url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/special-articles/1153 |format=PDF |title=The History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field |author=Hymans, Richard |publisher=USA Track & Field; Track & Field News |access-date=May 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524033232/http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/special-articles/1153 |archive-date=2013-05-24 |url-status=dead }} failing to make the Olympic team and subsequently retiring.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19370319&id=fqtQAAAAIBAJ&pg=4936,359772 |author=Gould, Alan |publisher=The Milwaukee Journal |date=March 19, 1937 |access-date=May 20, 2013 |title=Glenn Gave Up Attempt to Set Record in Order to Win Race}}
In April, 1936, Bonthron, along with many other sports champions and stand outs, was honored at a banquet in Detroit, MI.{{cite news| title=Sport gossip|newspaper=The Windsor Daily Star |via=Google News Archive Search | date=20 April 1936 | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Qg8_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=jk4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=6215%2C5649943 | access-date=20 October 2023}} This Banquet was the first celebration of Champions Day.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|ITA}} Luigi Beccali|title=Men's 1500 meters World Record Holder|years=30 June 1934 – 6 August 1936|after={{flagicon|NZL}} Jack Lovelock}}
{{s-end}}
{{Footer US NC 1500m Men}}
{{Sullivan Award winners}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonthron, Bill}}
Category:American male middle-distance runners
Category:Princeton Tigers men's track and field athletes
Category:World record setters in athletics (track and field)
Category:Track and field athletes from Detroit
Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners