William Nyman Ashenfelter (October 16, 1924 in

Collegeville, Pennsylvania Collegeville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb outside of Philadelphia on Perkiomen Creek. Collegeville was incorporated in 1896. It is the location of Ursinus College which opened in 1869. The population was 5,089 at t ...

– June 4, 2010) was an American track and field athlete known for long-distance events. He was the younger brother of Horace Ashenfelter. In the

Steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

at the 1952

Olympic Trials 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 bet ...

, both brothers ran together, with Horace edging ahead to take the win in the last lap. Both brothers broke the American record that had been held for 16 years by

Harold Manning Harold William Manning (January 9, 1909 – January 26, 2003) was an American long-distance runner. He held the American record in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase from 1934 to 1952 and briefly held the world best in 1936. He represented the Unit ...

and both brothers qualified to run in the

1952 Olympics 1952 Olympics refers to both: *The 1952 Winter Olympics, which were held in Oslo, Norway *The 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the X ...

. While Bill was unable to finish his trial heat, Horace went on to win the gold medal in world record time. But Bill was not left out of making the world record book. A month earlier, Bill joined Reggie Pearman, John Barnes, and Mal Whitfield to set the world record in the 4 × 800 metres relay at 7:29.2. Bill was the 1954 American champion in the 2 mile steeplechase. In 1951 he won the USA Cross Country Championships. Horace won the championships in 1954–5, completing the only set of brothers to win the championships.

References

1924 births 2010 deaths People from Collegeville, Pennsylvania American male middle-distance runners American male steeplechase runners Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Pennsylvania United States Army personnel of World War II Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-middledistance-athletics-bio-stub