Andy Bakjian (August 20, 1914 – February 26, 1986) was a

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Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

official and author on the subject. An alternate on the ill-fated United States

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

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team in 1940, Bakjian coached

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and track at

Jefferson High School This is a list of memorials to Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States and the author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Buildings Elementary schools *Jefferson Elementary School, in Cammack Village, Arkansas *Thoma ...

in Los Angeles, California.

Early life

Andy Bakjian was born August 20, 1914, in West Hoboken, New Jersey.USATF Hall of Fame bio
Accessed October 26, 2010.

Career

As head coach, he led Jefferson High School to the 1964

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

team title. Working as an official, Bakjian worked at many of the top track and field meets in Southern California. He established himself as an outstanding official, which led to him becoming the Commissioner of Officials for th
Southern California Association
of the AAU in 1969. His service was recognized at the

Mt. SAC Relays The Mt. SAC Relays are an annual track and field festival held primarily at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mt. San Antonio College campus in Walnut, California. The Relays are held in mid-April each year since the first edition held on April 24-25, 1 ...

who established the Andy & Mary Bakjian Award For Outstanding USA Track & Field Competition Officials In 1982 he authored the book ''Track Management'' published by

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

, . He was chairman of the National Officials Committee. He was also the chairman of the panel that selected the officials who would work the

1984 Summer Olympic Games The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles. He also served as chief referee of running events at the Games, a position that among other events, had to settle the controversial collision between

Mary Decker Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world re ...

and Zola Budd.

Death and legacy

After his death, Bakjian's wife Mary continued his legacy as both a leading official and the manager of track and field operations in Southern California until her retirement in 2009. Mary died on April 20, 2016.

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

, now the successor to the AAU and later TAC, has named its award for outstanding officiating after Bakjian. He was elected to the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, b ...

following his death in 1986.http://www.usatf.org/groups/officials/awards/andy-bakjian-award-info.asp Andy Bakjian Award

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakjian, Andy 1914 births 1986 deaths American people of Armenian descent American referees and umpires Writers from Los Angeles Sportspeople from Union City, New Jersey Athletics (track and field) administrators Track and field people from California Jefferson High School (Los Angeles) alumni People from Union City, New Jersey