Janice "Jan" Melbourne Merrill (born June 18, 1956) is a retired American runner. She was the dominant long distance runner of the middle 1970s, a notable front runner, her uniform with the large "M" on her chest would usually break away to an insurmountable lead in domestic meets. She was equally untouchable in self-promotion or dealing with the media, often deferring to her coach, Norm Higgins.[1] At various points in time she held the American record in the 1500 meters (4:02.61 set on July 29, 1976) during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters.[2] She lost other record opportunities because the only times she could get a decent race in the United States was against men.[1]
 Merrill in 1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | June 18, 1956 New London, Connecticut | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 52 kg (115 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | 800–10,000 m | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Connecticut College Age Group Athletes Association | ||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Norm Higgins | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 800 m – 2:02.80 (1977) 1500 m – 4:02.61 (1976) Mile – 4:28.3 (1979) 3000 m – 8:42.6 (1978) 5000 m – 15:30.6 (1980) 10,000 m – 32.03. (1981) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
She won the U.S. title at 1500 meters twice outdoors,[3] 3000 meters 4 times,[4] twice in the indoor mile,[5] twice in the indoor 2 mile[6] and twice in Cross Country.[7] After retiring from competitions she became a high school and college track coach.[8]
Achievements
edit| Year | Tournament | Venue | Result | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing the  United States
| ||||
| 1976 | Olympic Games | Montreal, Canada | 8th | 1500 m |
| 1978 | World Cross Country Championships | Glasgow, Scotland | 7th | Long Race Individual |
| 2nd | Long Race Team | |||
| 1979 | World Cross Country Championships | Limerick, Ireland | 7th | Long Race Individual |
| 1st | Long Race Team | |||
| 1980 | World Cross Country Championships | Paris, France | 5th | Long Race Individual |
| 3rd | Long Race Team | |||
| 1981 | World Cross Country Championships | Madrid, Spain | 2nd | Long Race Individual |
| 2nd | Long Race Team | |||
| 1983 | World Cross Country Championships | Gateshead, England | 13th | Long Race Individual |
| 1st | Long Race Team | |||
References
edit- ^ a b Verschoth, Anita (February 26, 1979). "She's His Fair Lady". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-04.
- ^ Louise Mead Tricard (1 January 1996). American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 Through 1980. McFarland. pp. 646–. ISBN 978-0-7864-0219-9.
- ^ USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 1,500 m Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 3,000 m Archived 2010-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ USA Indoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 1,500 m Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ USA Indoor Track & Field Champions: Women's 3,000 m Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ USA Track & Field – Women. Usatf.org. Retrieved on 2017-09-18.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Jan Merrill". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
 | This biographical article about an American middle distance runner is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |