Michael Stember (born January 30, 1978) is a

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 An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

from the United States who is known for his achievements in the middle distance events. His first international competition was winning the gold medal in the

1500 metres 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 ...

at the 1997 Pan American Junior Championships. He won a silver medal at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

in the men's 1500 metres. He ran in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, where he qualified for the semi-finals but finished a non-qualifying 9th. He returned to the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

and repeated his silver medal in the men's 1500 metres. In 2004 he became the U.S. Indoor 800 m champion. In 2007–2008 he was a volunteer coach at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He later became a restaurant owner.

Running career

High school

Stember ran for Jesuit High School. As a sophomore in 1994 at the

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 ...

he finished second in the 1600 metres to the future American marathon great

Meb Keflezighi Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (; Ge'ez: መብራህቶም ክፍልእዝጊ, ''Mebrāhtōm Kifl'izgī''; born May 5, 1975) is a retired Eritrean-born American long distance runner. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and fin ...

. He won the race outright as a junior (1995) and senior (1996). His 4:04.00 winning time in the 1995 CIF State Meet was the state 1600 meters record until 2001 when it was surpassed by Ryan Hall at 4:02:62. The impressive finish—starting after two laps—is depicted in a YouTube video named "Godspeed" which has been viewed more than 27 million times since its release in 2010. However, as fast as Stember was running, he had a habit of running strategically, always finishing with a devastating

kick A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

that demoralized his opponents. As a junior, it worked well because no athlete on that level could match his kick at any pace.

Collegiate

He carried this strategy to

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, even though

Vin Lananna Vin or VIN may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Vîn TV, a Kurdish language satellite television channel founded in 2007 * ''Vos Iz Neias?'', an American Jewish online news site * Coastal radio station VIN Geraldton (callsign), a stati ...

tried to coax him into occasionally using other strategies. He scored 13 points for the team in 2000, with a second place in the 1500 and 4th place in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

as Stanford won the

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 ...

. Stember holds the Stanford records in both the 1500 metres and 800 metres and was named All American ten times. He ran the 800 metre leg on Stanford's "world record" claiming team for the unsanctioned Indoor "Distance Medley Relay".

International

In 1999, he was fourth in the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, behind then-Kenyan

Bernard Lagat Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat (born December 12, 1974) is a Kenyan-American middle and long-distance runner. Lagat was born in Kapsabet, Kenya. Prior to his change of domicile to the US, Lagat had an extensive competitive career representing his ...

. A year later, he was the third qualifier at the

U.S. Olympic Trials The United States Olympic Trials are competitions held in certain sports to select the United States' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading i ...

, but had not achieved the A Standard. He spent the summer chasing the mark, achieving it at

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. World records Over the course of its history, five world reco ...

in one of the last opportunities before the Olympics. Stember ended up running the men's 1500 meters at the

, but did not make it to the final round.

References

External links

Michael Stember
at

USA Track & Field 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 ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stember, Michael 1978 births Living people American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from Sacramento, California Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Fair Oaks, California Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games