Tony Sandoval

{{BLP sources|date=December 2007}}

Anthony B. Sandoval (born May 19, 1954) is a former world-class marathon runner, most noted for winning the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials, in the year the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Sandoval's 2:10:19 performance in Buffalo, New York, on May 24, 1980, was a US Olympic Trials record and faster than the 1980 Olympic Marathon winning time of 2:11:03.{{cite web |url=http://www.usatf.org/events/2004/OlympicTrials-Marathon-Men/mediaInfo/MensMarathonMediaGuide_part2.pdf |title=2004 USA Olympic Team Trials: Men's Marathon Media Guide Supplement |author=USA Track & Field |author-link= |year=2004 |publisher=USA Track & Field |location=Santa Barbara, California |page=9 |language= |trans-title=|doi= |quote= }}

Career

Image: Sandoval.jpg

Competing for the Stanford Cardinal track and field team, Sandoval finished 8th in the 10,000 m at the 1974 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.{{cite web |url=https://www.ustfccca.org/records-lists/meet-history-by-event?gender=1&series=3369&event=12 |title=10,000 meters at the NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships |website=USTFCCCA |access-date=28 December 2024}}

In his first attempt to make the Olympic team "Sandoval took a crack at the '76 Olympic Marathon Trial. He'd run a 2:19 debut in Phoenix the previous December. In the trial, held in Eugene, Oregon, Sandoval ran well but it was his first near-miss: fourth-place [with the top three making the team] in 2:14:58."

In the late 1970s, Sandoval worked towards becoming a medical doctor and competed in marathons on unusually light training. Following the 1976 trials, he trained by running 35 miles per week and ran "a 2:14:37 for second place at the Nike-Oregon Track Club Marathon in Eugene in 1978. After that, he ran 2:15:23 for 15th place in the Boston Marathon in 1979."

In September 1979, Sandoval finished the Nike OTC Marathon tied for first with Jeff Wells with a time of 2:10:20,{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Kenny |title=The Quick In A Dead Heat |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1979/09/17/823974/the-quick-in-a-dead-heat-jeff-wells-and-tony-sandoval-finished-together-to-win-the-nike-marathon-a-race-in-which-50-runners-went-under-the-us-olympic-trial-qualifying-standard |accessdate=October 5, 2015 |newspaper=Sports Illustrated |date=September 17, 1979 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006114102/http://www.si.com/vault/1979/09/17/823974/the-quick-in-a-dead-heat-jeff-wells-and-tony-sandoval-finished-together-to-win-the-nike-marathon-a-race-in-which-50-runners-went-under-the-us-olympic-trial-qualifying-standard |archivedate=October 6, 2015 }} with the two runners crossing the finish line hand-in-hand. "'We were running together,' says Sandoval, 'At the finish, I just put my arm out and Jeff put his arm out. No words were spoken.'"{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

Following the 1980 Trials "Sandoval made attempts in subsequent marathon trials. He ran 2:12:42 for sixth place in 1984 and 2:22:37 for 27th place in 1988. In the 1992 trials in Columbus, Ohio, Sandoval popped an Achilles tendon at 8 miles and was a dnf [did not finish]. 'That was the last time I ran hard,' he says."

Sandoval's lifetime best for 10,000 meters came at the Mt. Sac relays in 1984, where he ran 27:47.0 for fifth place. Sandoval was inducted into the Road Runners Club of America Hall of Fame in 1999.{{cite web |title=RRCA Hall of Fame 1990-1999 |url=http://www.rrca.org/about/history/hall-of-fame/1990/ |publisher=Road Runners Club of America |accessdate=January 15, 2013}}

Sandoval is currently a cardiologist in Los Alamos, New Mexico, US.

Sandoval is referenced in the 2010 novel Again to Carthage by John L. Parker Jr.{{cite book |last=Parker |first=John L. Jr. |title=Again to Carthage |year=2010 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781439192498 |pages=343}}

Achievements

{{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
colspan="6"|Representing the {{USA}}
1976

|United States Olympic Trials

|Eugene, Oregon

|4th

|Marathon

|2:14:58

1980

|United States Olympic Trials

|Buffalo, New York

|1st

|Marathon

|2:10:19

1981

|New York City Marathon

|New York, United States

|6th

|Marathon

|2:12:12 https://www.arrs.run/MaraRank/ATM_Mara1981.htm Course 150 m short on remeasurement

References

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