Fuchs Went Back-To-Back In Shot Put

Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships

Fuchs Went Back-To-Back In Shot Put

Even on a bad day Jim Fuchs of Yale was hard to beat.

Fuchs was the world record holder in the shot put and riding a 12-month winning streak when he entered the 1950 NCAA Track & Field Championships.

But, after the trials, Fuchs found himself leading by only 1¾” (5cm) over Otis Chandler of Stanford, as both were superior to the NCAA meet record of 56-1½ (17.10m) Fuchs had set the year before.

The closeness of the competition caught many by surprise, despite the world-class caliber – Fuchs had set the WR of 58-5½ (17.81m) in April, while Chandler’s best of 57-4⅜ (17.48m) in May made him No. 3 on the all-time world (and collegiate) list.

After the trials, only Fuchs improved — albeit marginally to 56-11 (17.34m), another NCAA meet record. Chandler, though, finishing second at 56-5½ (17.20m), gave Fuchs the closest scare he would receive in a winning streak that would eventually stretch post-collegiately into 1951 at 88 meets – then the longest of any event in history.

Fuchs had become an innovator in the shot put, creating a technique he called the “Sideways Glide” to compensate for an injury. Parry O’Brien not only ended Fuchs’s win streak but would eventually set an even longer one of 116 meets using a modification called the “O’Brien Glide.”

posted: December 18, 2020
1921-2021
The NCAA's First Championships

The NCAA and collegiate track & field will mark a momentous milestone in the spring of 2021 -- the 100th anniversary of the NCAA Championships and with that, the NCAA Track & Field Championships. In June 1921, the University of Chicago hosted the first track & field championships in NCAA history.

This point can’t be emphasized enough: Not only was the event the first for NCAA track & field, but the first championships for any sport under the sponsorship of the NCAA.

To celebrate, over each of the next 365 days, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) will celebrate moments, student-athletes, and coaches that have made a century’s worth of championships special. From humble beginnings to important historical milestones to the modern-day, collegiate track & field has evolved with the American society.

The 2021 edition of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin with preliminary round action on May 27-29 in Jacksonville, Fla., and College Station, Texas. The championships final site and culmination of the celebration is slated for June 9-12, 2021 at the newly rebuilt Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Memorable Moments
McLaughlin Had No Hurdling Competition
June 9, 2018

In 2018, Sydney McLaughlin set a 400H collegiate record in May and then posted the largest margin of victory in NCAA DI meet history one month later.

Fosbury Flopped To High Jump Glory

Dick Fosbury, creator of the “Fosbury Flop,” won back-to-back high jump titles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 1968 and 1969 with meet records in both years.

X-Man Reigned At 2006 NCAA Meet

Xavier Carter won four national titles at the 2006 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, completing the only 100-400 sweep and helping the title-winning 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.