Don Paige

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Don Paige
Personal information
Born (1956-10-13) October 13, 1956 (age 67)
Baldwinsville, New York
Medal record
Men's
Athletics
Representing the  United States
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1979 San Juan 1500 metres
Olympic Boycott Games
Gold medal – first place 1980 Philadelphia
800 metres

Donald J. Paige (born October 13, 1956) is an American retired middle-distance runner.

Track career

In 1979, while a student at

Steve Scott at the AAU championships. 1979 culminated with him winning the 1500 meters title at the Pan American Games
.

In 1980, Paige won the 800 at the

USA Olympic Trials on 23 June 1980 in Eugene, Oregon, but was denied participation at the 1980 Olympic Games because of the USA boycott.[2] Paige did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.[3] In the race he set the world best year performance in the men's 800 metres in 1980 at 1:44.53[4] U.S. After the 1980 Olympics, he defeated the 800 meter Olympic silver medalist and world record holder Sebastian Coe by 0.03 seconds in an 800-meter race in Via Reggio, Italy, and was later ranked number one in the world for the 800m in 1980 by Track & Field News magazine. As some small consolation for missing the Olympics, he also won the 800 m at the Olympic Boycott Games
.

His personal best in the same event came three years later: 1:44.29, achieved on 4 September 1983 in Rieti, Lazio, Italy.

Paige ran 3:54.19, his lifetime best for the mile, on May 16, 1982.

In 1984, Paige failed to qualify for the Olympics finishing fifth in the 800 m final at the Olympic Trials.[2]

Early life

Paige was born in New York state, where he attended

MBA program.[5]

As well as a student athlete, Paige was also from 1981 to 1984 Assistant Track Coach for Middle Distances at Villanova University.[5] Paige was honored in 1997 for his outstanding achievements as a middle-distance runner at Villanova including winning two NCAA Outdoor individual titles in the 800m (1979–80) and one at 1500m (1979), and at the indoor NCAA Championships three 1000y titles (1978–80).[6] During his time at Villanova, Paige was coached by their legendary track coach Jumbo Elliott, and considered himself a graduate of the 'Jumbo Elliott' system like other Villanova track greats like Marty Liquori and Eamonn Coghlan. At Villanova, Paige also met his wife, Carolyn.[7]

After graduating from Vilanova, Paige ran for Marty Liquori's Athletic Attic track team.[8]

Later life

Since retiring from athletics, Paige has worked on the design of track and field facilities, as owner of his own consultancy company.[5]

Looking back at the Olympic boycott, Paige has no lingering ill-feeling, in fact he is reported as saying he understood and supported President Carter's decision, even writing an article explaining his reasons for his school newspaper.[9] His main regret, he has stated, was not getting the chance of 'walking in the opening ceremonies with all of those athletes from around the world'.[8]

On his victory over Seb Coe after the Olympics, Paige said "I was No. 1 in the world, but Sebastian Coe was a better half-miler than me, I just beat him that day."[9]

Rankings

Paige was ranked among the best in the US and the world in the 800 m over the period 1979 to 1984, according to the votes of the experts of

Track and Field News.[10][11]

Paige also showed early promise as 1500 m runner.[12][13]

Paige was also ranked no. 1 at 1000 y/1000 m in the US for five consecutive years.[7]

References

  1. ^ http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/Interviews/don%20paige.pdf[permanent dead link] Don Paige, T & F N Interview, Jon Henderschott, August 1979. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  2. ^ a b http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/OlympicTrials/HistoryOfTheOlympicTrials.pdf Archived 2016-03-27 at the Wayback Machine The History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field, R Hymans, USA Track & Field, 2008.
  3. ISBN 978-0942257403
    .
  4. ^ http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=5060&Gender=M trackfield.brinkster
  5. ^ a b c d http://www.paigedesigngroup.com/About_Us.html Paige Design Group. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  6. ^ http://www.villanova.com/sports/c-otrack/archive/9798spec-rel/nova-c-track-spec-rel03.html Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Villanova Honors 100th Anniversary of Track & Field, The Official Site of Villanova Athletics, September 25, 1997. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2012-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Don Paige, T & F N Interview, Dave Johnson, April 1982. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  8. ^ a b http://www.fleetfeetsyracuse.com/news/looking-back-with-don-paige-part-2 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Looking Back with Don Paige (Part 2)', Carlo Cuccaro, Fleet Feet Sports, February 13, 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  9. ^ a b http://villanovarunning.blogspot.co.uk/2010/07/don-paige-30-years-after-boycott.html 'Don Paige: 30 Years after the Boycott', Villanova Running, July 22, 2010. Print of article from Philadelphia Daily News by Frank Bertucci. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  10. Track and Field News. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  11. Track and Field News. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  12. Track and Field News
    .
  13. Track and Field News. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2012-10-24. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
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