Geoffrey Peter "Geoff" Vanderstock (born October 8, 1946) is an American

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 ...

athlete primarily known for running

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. He was once the world record holder in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

. His 48.94 was set at the high altitude United States Olympic Trials at

Echo Summit Echo Summit is a mountain pass over the Sierra Nevada in the western United States, located in eastern El Dorado County, California. At above sea level, it is the highest point on U.S. Route 50 in California, which traverses it at postmile 66 ...

, California, on September 11, 1968. He was the first man to run the event under 49 seconds. The hand time took .3 off the previous record held by

Rex Cawley Warren Jay Cawley (July 6, 1940 – January 21, 2022) was an American athlete, winner of 400 m hurdles at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Cawley was born in Highland Park, Michigan. He attended Farmington High School. Cawley still holds the record t ...

. A month later at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

, he finished 4th in a tight race between 2nd place and 4th place, and given a time of 49.06, while watching

David Hemery David Peter Hemery, (born 18 July 1944) is a British former track and field athlete, best known as the winner of the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Early life Hemery was born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, but ...

demolish his world record running 48.12. Sports reference

Early career

In high school, he finished 4th in the 120 yard high hurdles, running 14.2 at 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 ...

competing for

Pomona Catholic High School Pomona Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic, co-ed middle school and all-girls high school in Pomona, California, established in 1898. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. It is a part of the tri-school comm ...

which is now split into two schools one known as Damien High School for the boys and Pomona Catholic Girls High School for their female counterparts. At the

Golden West Invitational The Golden West Invitational (GWI) high school track & field all-star meet brings together top high school athletes from throughout the country and provides them with the very highest levels of competition. The GWI made its debut in 1960 and is held ...

, the equivalent of a National High School Championship meet, he tied for 3rd in 120y HH in 14.2 and was also 3rd in the 180y LH in 19.0. During that season he was also a 6'4"

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er and

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

ed 13'6". He next competed for the

Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is a public community college in southern California, located in Walnut in eastern Los Angeles County. It offers more than 260 degree and certificate programs, 25 support programs, and more than 50 studen ...

, where he took up the

, achieving second at the AAU

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olym ...

and setting the national junior college record at 51.2. While at Mt. SAC, he also joined future

gold medalist

Bob Seagren Robert Seagren (born October 17, 1946) is a retired American pole vaulter, the 1968 Olympic champion. A native of Pomona, California, Seagren was one of the world's top pole vaulters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won six National AAU ...

in setting the national junior college record in the shuttle hurdles relay. He then went to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, finishing third in the 1968

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make up ...

s and was a two time All-American He was ranked in the top ten American 400 metre hurdlers 5 straight years 1965-1969, including two years, 1966 and 1968 ranked as number one. He is now a

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

broker. He appeared in the 1979 track and field oriented movie''

Goldengirl ''Goldengirl'' is a 1979 American drama sci-fi sports film directed by Joseph Sargent, based on the 1977 science fiction novel of the same title by Peter Lear, a pseudonym of Peter Lovesey. The screenplay was by John Kohn, with music by Bill Con ...

'', the 1989 movie ''

Tango & Cash ''Tango & Cash'' is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance and Teri Hatcher. Stallone and Russell star as Raymond Tango and Gabriel Cash respectively, two rival LAPD narcotics detective ...

'', and made a couple of appearances in the 1987

FOX Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

comedy TV series '' Mr. President''.https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0888859/ IMDB

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanderstock, Geoff 1946 births Living people American male hurdlers World record setters in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Sportspeople from Pomona, California Track and field athletes from Chicago University of Southern California alumni Mt. San Antonio College alumni Track and field athletes from California Junior college men's track and field athletes in the United States