![Leslie MacMitchell 1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Leslie_MacMitchell_1942.jpg)
Thomas Leslie MacMitchell (September 26, 1920 – March 21, 2006) was an American athlete who competed in several events in the late 1930s and 1940s, including the mile run. He won numerous races while attending
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
(NYU) and earned the
James E. Sullivan Award, the top U.S. award for amateur athletes, in 1941. That year, he also gained a share of the world record for an indoor mile run. After serving in World War II, MacMitchell had some success, but his performance declined, and he never went to an
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 ...
.
Early life
Born in New York City, MacMitchell suffered from
diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...
when he was seven years old; the illness forced him to be confined to a bed for four months, and to re-learn how to walk afterward. MacMitchell later went to Manhattan's
George Washington High School, where he displayed his track abilities with high school national championships in two events: the 1,000-yard run and
cross country.
Pre-World War II career
In 1939 and 1940, MacMitchell won the
IC4A cross country championship. By the early 1940s, MacMitchell had gained a reputation as a leading American runner, particularly in the mile.
One writer predicted that MacMitchell would be the first man to accomplish a
four-minute mile, and that he would later "be hailed as the greatest runner of all time".
At the 1941 Baxter Mile, he ran the mile in 4:07.4 seconds, tying the world indoor record held by
Glenn Cunningham and Chuck Fenske.
In the meets held at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
that year, MacMitchell was undefeated in the mile in five races.
In 1941, he also won the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) outdoor mile national championship, along with outdoor and indoor IC4A victories. MacMitchell was the
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...
's (AAU) champion of the
1500 meters
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 ...
, and won every cross country event he entered, the fourth consecutive year he did so.
He won his third consecutive Intercollegiate cross country title, on top of a 1938 victory in the championship for freshmen. In December 1941, MacMitchell was announced to be the leading vote-getter for the James E. Sullivan Award;
this made him the first winner of the award not to have graduated from college,
as he was in his senior year at NYU at the time. He was the youngest recipient of the Sullivan Award at the time, and was the first winner from New York state.
![Leslie MacMitchell NYU 1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Leslie_MacMitchell_NYU_1942.jpg)
In 1942, MacMitchell won the
Millrose Games'
Wanamaker Mile The Wanamaker Mile is an indoor mile run, mile race held annually at the Millrose Games in New York City. It was named in honour of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker. The event was first held in 1926 inside Madison Square Garden, which was the ...
, posting a 4:11.3 time. He built a streak of mile race wins that reached 19 in 1942, before
Gil Dodds defeated him at the AAU national championship. He also finished in second place at the NCAA Championships, behind Bobby Ginn. That month, he graduated from NYU with a physical education degree. His career was then interrupted by World War II. MacMitchell served in the
U.S. Navy as a lieutenant.
Post-war career
After the Navy discharged MacMitchell, he returned to competition in January 1946. Following third- and first-place finishes, respectively, in the Metropolitan AAU (indoor) and Grover Cleveland events, he made a successful comeback to the mile run, winning an event sponsored by ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'' in a time of 4:14.1. In February, he recorded a victory in the AAU national championship. MacMitchell had eight straight indoor victories in the mile, a streak ended with a second-place finish at the Chicago Relays, in which he fell during lap nine.
Despite his wins, MacMitchell remained unsatisfied with his performance; he later attributed this to his military service, saying "Running on the steel deck of a light cruiser is not the best way to train."
He later attempted to qualify for the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
, but was unsuccessful; he retired from competition afterward.
Later life
Before the end of his athletics career, NYU gave MacMitchell a job in administration. In future years, he worked in multiple positions related to education, including a three-decade stint with the
College Board
The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...
. Another of MacMitchell's post-athletics jobs was with
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
president
Walter O'Malley
Walter Francis O'Malley (October 9, 1903 – August 9, 1979) was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from 1950 to 1979. In 1958, as owner of the Dodgers, he brought major league b ...
, who hired him as an assistant. He continued working until 2001.
In his personal life, MacMitchell was married twice, first to Mary Lee and then Jill Kudlich after divorcing Lee. He had four children and three grandchildren.
In 2005, MacMitchell died in
San Jose, California, after coming down with pneumonia.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmitchell, Leslie
1920 births
2006 deaths
American male middle-distance runners
George Washington Educational Campus alumni
James E. Sullivan Award recipients
New York University alumni
United States Navy officers
United States Navy personnel of World War II