Steve Scott
Encyclopedia
Steve Scott is an American male athlete who is one of the greatest milers in American history. The silver medalist in the 1,500 meters at the inaugural IAAF World Outdoor Championships at Helsinki in 1983, Scott owns the U.S. indoor record in the 2000 meters (4:58.6-1981). He previously held the American outdoor mile record for more than 26 years and also is the former American indoor record holder in the same event. Track & Field News
ranked Scott #1 in the U.S. on 10 occasions, and 11 times during his career he was ranked in the top ten in the world by T&FN.
He ran 136 sub-4:00 miles in his career, more than any other runner in history.
Scott is also regarded as the founder of speed golf
in 1979; on December 2, 1982, Scott set a record for the fastest round of golf played on a regulation course, completing 18 holes in 29 minutes, 33.05 seconds at Miller Golf Course in Anaheim, Calif. Using only two clubs and running from hole to hole, he posted a respectable score of 95.
won the gold medal in the 800 meters. Wottle is often remembered for running the Olympic final in a golf cap, which he forgot to take off during the medal ceremony while the national anthem played. Wottle's cap inspired Scott, so he wore a cap in every race of the 1972 cross country season. In his junior year in high school, Scott made the varsity squad as the fifth runner. In track, he concentrated on the shorter distances and ran the 800 in 1:58 and the mile in 4:30. He also met Kim Votaw, a freshman runner who would eventually become his wife in 1979.
In his senior year, Scott became the top runner on the cross country team and improved his track times to 1:52 in the 800 and 4:15 in the mile. He finished fourth in the CIF California State Meet
in the 880 yards and drew several college scholarship offers. He liked coach Len Miller and joined him at the University of California, Irvine
in the fall of 1974. He still holds the UCI school record in the 1500, and the UC Irvine Steve Scott Invitational is named after him. While at UCI, Scott won the 1977 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
s Division-I 1500-meter title after winning the 1500 twice and the mile once at three previous NCAA Division-II meets.
Scott ran his first sub-4:00 mile indoors at the Sunkist Invitational in Los Angeles in January 1977, his junior year in college. The following year, he blossomed from an unknown college runner to an international miler, competing on both sides of the Atlantic. When he graduated with a degree in social ecology in 1978, Scott had already run 11 sub-4:00 miles.
of 3:48.95 in Oslo
on July 17, 1979, Scott finished second with a time of 3:51.11. Because records at the time were rounded up to the nearest tenth of a second, Scott missed tying Jim Ryun
's American
mile record of 3:51.1 by 1/100th of a second. However, in 1981, the IAAF started to recognize records in running events longer than 400 meters to the hundredth of a second, meaning that Scott's 3:51.11 had tied Ryun's record, depending on how the times were interpreted.
Scott won the 1,500 m at the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials
, but did not compete at the Moscow Olympic Games due to the U.S. boycott. His greatest success at an Olympic or World championship came at the inaugural World Athletics Championships in Helsinki
, Finland
in 1983, when he won a silver medal behind Steve Cram
. At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 1988 Games in Seoul, he placed 10th and 5th in the 1,500 m respectively.
Perhaps his greatest legacy was setting three American mile records. While there was uncertainty whether his 3:51.11 was at least equal to the American mile record or not, his first undisputed American record came when he ran third in another Oslo race on July 11, 1981 with a time of 3:49.68, becoming the first American to break 3:50 in the event and the fifth ever to do so. South African Sydney Maree
, who was in the process of gaining his American citizenship, ran 3:48.83 on September 9, 1981, though this time was not generally seen as being an American record.
The following year Scott broke the American mile record twice, both times again at Oslo. First, he won a race on June 26, 1982 in 3:48.53, becoming history's third-fastest miler behind Coe and Steve Ovett
, then 11 days later he ran 3:47.69, the second-fastest mile in history. That time would stand as the American record for a quarter century until Alan Webb
ran 3:46.91 in 2007.
In training, Scott ran several miles every morning followed by an intense track workout in the evening. On the weekend, he ran as far as 20 miles. He routinely exceeded 100 miles per week. This running volume was twice that of today's young milers, which may explain why Scott's U.S. mile record lasted so long.
Scott loved to race—indoors, outdoors, on the roads, and in cross country—sometimes as many as 50 competitions a year. This included three top ten finishes in the U.S. National Cross Country Championships (7th in 1979, 4th in 1980, and 6th in 1981) as well as three victories in the Carlsbad 5,000 road race from 1986 to 1988. His times at Carlsbad in 1986 (13:32) and 1988 (13:30) were World Best times for a road 5K. Among his fellow middle distance runners, he was known as one of track & field’s fiercest competitors. During the decade that followed his first sub-4-minute mile, Scott lived out of a suitcase. He traveled the world and competed year-round in the United States, Canada, Jamaica, Germany, Sweden, Norway, England, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Australia and New Zealand.
In the closing stages of a career that saw Scott race at the highest levels for nearly two decades, his attempt to run a sub-4:00 mile at age-40 in 1994 was derailed by a battle with testicular cancer
. He was cured and since retiring from competition he has built one of the most successful NAIA
collegiate programs in the country as Head Track and Cross Country Coach at Cal State San Marcos. He later received an OBE for his services to sport. In 2002, he was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame
. Scott has two sons, Corey and Shawn, and a daughter Megan. He and his wife JoAnn live in Carlsbad, California.
Track & Field News
Track & Field News is a magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson & Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field.The magazine provides coverage of athletics in the U.S.A. from the high school to national level as well as covering the sport on an international bases. The magazine...
ranked Scott #1 in the U.S. on 10 occasions, and 11 times during his career he was ranked in the top ten in the world by T&FN.
He ran 136 sub-4:00 miles in his career, more than any other runner in history.
Scott is also regarded as the founder of speed golf
Speed golf
Speed Golf is a sport started in California in 1979 by American runner Steve Scott and which involves completing a golf course in the lowest combination of strokes and time...
in 1979; on December 2, 1982, Scott set a record for the fastest round of golf played on a regulation course, completing 18 holes in 29 minutes, 33.05 seconds at Miller Golf Course in Anaheim, Calif. Using only two clubs and running from hole to hole, he posted a respectable score of 95.
Early years
Scott grew up in the 1960s in Upland, Calif. His mother was a runner who preceded the running boom. His father was an overweight physician who smoked and did not see the value of running. Through his mother's influence and a coach's persistence, Scott ran on Upland's cross country team. He caught track fever watching the 1972 Olympics on television, as U.S. runner Dave WottleDave Wottle
David James Wottle is a former American athlete. He is the winner of the 800 meter run at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He is perhaps, however, best known for wearing a golf cap while running....
won the gold medal in the 800 meters. Wottle is often remembered for running the Olympic final in a golf cap, which he forgot to take off during the medal ceremony while the national anthem played. Wottle's cap inspired Scott, so he wore a cap in every race of the 1972 cross country season. In his junior year in high school, Scott made the varsity squad as the fifth runner. In track, he concentrated on the shorter distances and ran the 800 in 1:58 and the mile in 4:30. He also met Kim Votaw, a freshman runner who would eventually become his wife in 1979.
In his senior year, Scott became the top runner on the cross country team and improved his track times to 1:52 in the 800 and 4:15 in the mile. He finished fourth in the CIF California State Meet
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 direct qualification path that can reach the state meet...
in the 880 yards and drew several college scholarship offers. He liked coach Len Miller and joined him at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
in the fall of 1974. He still holds the UCI school record in the 1500, and the UC Irvine Steve Scott Invitational is named after him. While at UCI, Scott won the 1977 NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It has three divisions: Division I, II, and III. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their institution and...
s Division-I 1500-meter title after winning the 1500 twice and the mile once at three previous NCAA Division-II meets.
Scott ran his first sub-4:00 mile indoors at the Sunkist Invitational in Los Angeles in January 1977, his junior year in college. The following year, he blossomed from an unknown college runner to an international miler, competing on both sides of the Atlantic. When he graduated with a degree in social ecology in 1978, Scott had already run 11 sub-4:00 miles.
International running career
When Sebastian Coe set a mile recordWorld record progression for the mile run
The world record in the mile run is the best mark set by a male or female runner in the middle-distance track and field event. The IAAF is the official body which oversees the records. Hicham El Guerrouj is the current men's record holder with his time of 3:43.13 minutes, while Svetlana Masterkova...
of 3:48.95 in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
on July 17, 1979, Scott finished second with a time of 3:51.11. Because records at the time were rounded up to the nearest tenth of a second, Scott missed tying Jim Ryun
Jim Ryun
James Ronald Ryun is an American former track athlete and politician, who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 to 2007, representing the 2nd District in Kansas. In the 2006 election, Ryun was defeated by Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda...
's American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mile record of 3:51.1 by 1/100th of a second. However, in 1981, the IAAF started to recognize records in running events longer than 400 meters to the hundredth of a second, meaning that Scott's 3:51.11 had tied Ryun's record, depending on how the times were interpreted.
Scott won the 1,500 m at the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials
United States Olympic Trials (track and field)
The United States Olympic Trials for the sport of Track and Field is the quadrennial meet to select the United States representatives at the Olympic Games. Since 1992, the meet has also served as the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Because of the depth of competition in some events,...
, but did not compete at the Moscow Olympic Games due to the U.S. boycott. His greatest success at an Olympic or World championship came at the inaugural World Athletics Championships in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
in 1983, when he won a silver medal behind Steve Cram
Steve Cram
Stephen "Steve" Cram MBE is a British retired athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", Cram set world records in the 1500 metres, 2000 metres and the mile during a...
. At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 1988 Games in Seoul, he placed 10th and 5th in the 1,500 m respectively.
Perhaps his greatest legacy was setting three American mile records. While there was uncertainty whether his 3:51.11 was at least equal to the American mile record or not, his first undisputed American record came when he ran third in another Oslo race on July 11, 1981 with a time of 3:49.68, becoming the first American to break 3:50 in the event and the fifth ever to do so. South African Sydney Maree
Sydney Maree
Sydney Maree is a former middle distance runner who competed at the international level in the 1980s. He was born in South Africa, in the dusty mining town of Cullinan, east of Pretoria, but later became a U.S...
, who was in the process of gaining his American citizenship, ran 3:48.83 on September 9, 1981, though this time was not generally seen as being an American record.
The following year Scott broke the American mile record twice, both times again at Oslo. First, he won a race on June 26, 1982 in 3:48.53, becoming history's third-fastest miler behind Coe and Steve Ovett
Steve Ovett
Stephen Michael James "Steve" Ovett OBE , is a former middle distance runner from England. He was gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, U.S.S.R., and set world records for 1500 metres and the mile run...
, then 11 days later he ran 3:47.69, the second-fastest mile in history. That time would stand as the American record for a quarter century until Alan Webb
Alan Webb (athlete)
Alan Webb is an American athlete. He holds the American record in the mile, with a time of 3:46.91. He competes professionally for Nike.-High school:...
ran 3:46.91 in 2007.
In training, Scott ran several miles every morning followed by an intense track workout in the evening. On the weekend, he ran as far as 20 miles. He routinely exceeded 100 miles per week. This running volume was twice that of today's young milers, which may explain why Scott's U.S. mile record lasted so long.
Scott loved to race—indoors, outdoors, on the roads, and in cross country—sometimes as many as 50 competitions a year. This included three top ten finishes in the U.S. National Cross Country Championships (7th in 1979, 4th in 1980, and 6th in 1981) as well as three victories in the Carlsbad 5,000 road race from 1986 to 1988. His times at Carlsbad in 1986 (13:32) and 1988 (13:30) were World Best times for a road 5K. Among his fellow middle distance runners, he was known as one of track & field’s fiercest competitors. During the decade that followed his first sub-4-minute mile, Scott lived out of a suitcase. He traveled the world and competed year-round in the United States, Canada, Jamaica, Germany, Sweden, Norway, England, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Greece, Australia and New Zealand.
In the closing stages of a career that saw Scott race at the highest levels for nearly two decades, his attempt to run a sub-4:00 mile at age-40 in 1994 was derailed by a battle with testicular cancer
Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. In the UK, approximately 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. Over his lifetime, a man's risk of...
. He was cured and since retiring from competition he has built one of the most successful NAIA
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...
collegiate programs in the country as Head Track and Cross Country Coach at Cal State San Marcos. He later received an OBE for his services to sport. In 2002, he was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame
National Track and Field Hall of Fame
The National Track and Field Hall of Fame located within the Armory Foundation at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, between 168th and 169th Streets, in Washington Heights, in the New York City borough of Manhattan, is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field...
. Scott has two sons, Corey and Shawn, and a daughter Megan. He and his wife JoAnn live in Carlsbad, California.
Personal bests
| Distance | Mark | Data | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 800 m | 1:45.05 | July 4, 1982 | Byrkjelo, Norway |
| 1000 m | 2:16.40 | August 23, 1981 | Nice, France |
| 1500 m | 3:31.76 | July 16, 1985 | Nice, France |
| One Mile | 3:47.69 | July 7, 1982 | Oslo, Norway |
| 3000 m | 7:36.69 | September 1, 1981 | Ingleheim, Germany |
| 5000 m | 13:30.39 | June 6, 1987 | Eugene, Oregon |
Book
- Steve Scott & Marc Bloom, Steve Scott the Miler MacMillian (1997) ISBN 978-0-02-861677-3