Jim Spivey
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James Calvin Spivey (born March 7, 1960 in Schiller Park,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
) is a former
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
middle-distance runner and Olympian. Spivey took up competitive running in Illinois where he became one of the best high school runners from his state. He was the 1982 NCAA DI men's 1500-meter champion with Indiana University. Spivey enjoyed a long Olympic career, in which he participated in the Olympic Summer Games in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
,
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
, and
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
.


Running career


High school

Spivey began running competitively in 1975 as a sophomore in cross country and on the track at Fenton High School in
Bensenville, Illinois Bensenville is a village located near O'Hare International Airport in DuPage County, Illinois, with a portion of the town in Cook County. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 18,813. First known as Tioga, it was formally establishe ...
. He was runner-up at state cross country his junior and senior year, running 14:00 for three miles at the Illinois State course in Peoria, Illinois. In Track and Field he was a state qualifier in the two-mile his sophomore year, was runner-up in the two-mile his junior year in 9:00.5, and state champion in the half mile his senior year. His times of 1:50.2 880 yards was the #1 ranked high school time in the country; and mile of 4:06.2 was the 2nd fastest high schooler for 1978.


Collegiate

Spivey attended Indiana University from 1978 to 1983. In 1982 he was the NCAA champion in the men's 1500 meters. During his college career, Spivey's training fluctuated seasonally to adjust to cross country in the fall and track in the winter and spring; his weekly mileage ranged from under 40 to over 80 miles depending on his race schedule.
Top Workouts from the Jim Spivey Training Journal


International

In 1984, he also won the Olympic Trials and placed 5th in the 1984 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles Olympic Games. His time of 3:36.06 was the fastest run by an American in the Olympic final until the 2012 London Olympic Games in which Leo Manzano ran 3:34.90 to claim 2nd place. His greatest success came at the World Championships in Rome 1987 over
1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...
where he won a bronze medal. He also won the Silver Medal at the
1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...
in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
. The following year, however, Spivey failed to qualify for the
1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
(finishing fourth at the US trials in Indianapolis) in the same season in which he set his personal best over 1500 m (3:31.01, Koblenz). In 1992 Spivey won the US Olympic trials 1500 meters in New Orleans ahead of Steve Holman to qualify for the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
in Barcelona, where he came eighth. In 1996 Spivey competed in the Olympic 5000m competition in Atlanta, where he was a semi-finalist with a 14:27.72. He also currently holds the American record for the 2,000 m at 4:52.44 set in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1987. His personal bests include 1:46.5 800 m 1982 San Francisco; 2:16.05 1000 meters 1984 Eugene, Oregon; 3:49.80 mile 1986 Oslo, Norway; 7:37.07 3000 m 1993 Cologne, West Germany and 13:15.86 5000 meters 1994 Berlin, Germany at age 34. He was a member of the 1983 Helsinki, Finland; 1987 Rome; 1991 Tokyo; 1993 Stuttgart, Germany and 1995 Gothenburg, Sweden USA World Championship teams.


Coaching

Spivey was the head coach of men and women cross-country and track and field at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
from 1997-2001, and had 13 all-Americans of the athletic department's 24 during that time. One individual won four
NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...
titles in 1999-2000. From 2001-2005, he was the head women's cross-country coach/assistant track and field coach at
Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
, including being able to coach to SEC champions and one all-American in the 5000 meter run. As a college coach, Spivey used a series of quotes to motivate his athletes. He would say, "Sit in the chair" to explain the importance of trusting the coach. "No deposit, no return" signified that desirable results in the championship end of the season would only come with hard work early on in the season. "The hay is in the barn" was used during the championship end of the season to remind the athletes that they'd already done all the work they could do and now was time to reap the benefits. The phrases "Reach out and slap a hand," "People in the
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would pay to run with you guys" and "It's great to be alive" were all used to motivate athletes during hard workouts. Additionally, he often used the call and response, "Hip hip?" "Hooray!" during particularly grueling workouts. His running idol was
Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...
. He currently lives in
Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...
and works for ASICS America corporation since 2006. He moved over from Team Sales to Sports Marketing in May 2018, working with college and other sponsored programs throughout the United States. He started the Jim Spivey Running Club in 1990, and enjoys coaching a group in Wheato
Jim Spivey Running Club
He helped coach Wheaton Academy high school in West Chicago for 4 years, the boys' and girls' cross country teams and assistant role in track. He is presently a volunteer coach for the girls' cross country and track teams at Wheaton North in Wheaton, Il. Also, one of his form mid-1990 JSRC runners is the head coach at Latin High School in downtown Chicago. Coach Dan Daly asked Jim to help him coach his boys' and girls' cross country and track teams, beginning in August 2017 - The partnership with Jim writing the training and Dan implementing the workouts, to have Dan's first ever Illinois State Champion in the 1600m run in May 2018, a freshman who ran 4:56. He also coaches individuals and high school groups during the off-season, and gives motivational speeches and coaching clinics. Jim's signature is handing out half-sticks of gum to his runners after the workout.


Personal bests

* 800 m -- 1:46.5 (1982) * 1000 m -- 2:16.54 (1984) * 1500 m -- 3:31.01 (1988) * Mile—3:49.80 (1986) * 2000 m -- 4:52.44 (1987, American record) * 3000 m -- 7:37.04 (1993) * 5000 m -- 13:15.86 (1994) Source
TrackandFieldNews.com


References


External links

* * Official Sit
JimSpivey.com


Videos of Jim Spivey



{{DEFAULTSORT:Spivey, Jim 1960 births Living people American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Sportspeople from Wheaton, Illinois Track and field athletes from Illinois World Athletics Championships medalists Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) People from Wood Dale, Illinois Big Ten Athlete of the Year winners Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Indiana Hoosiers men's track and field athletes