Not an easy task!
After years of correspondence, the author finally managed to get in touch with Filbert Bayi from Tanzania.
At the 1974 Commonwealth Games, Bayi, who was known for leading from the start, used this top-running tactic to not only win the race but also break the world record in the 1500 metres (3 minutes, 32.16 seconds), beating New Zealand’s John Walker, Kenya’s Ben Jipcho and New Zealand’s Rod Dixon (a frequent visitor to Staten Island).
A year later, Bayi snatched Jim Ryun’s world record in the 1-mile run (3:51.0), again leading from the front and keeping Marty Liquori and Eamonn Coughlin at bay.
Great runner Filbert Bayi holds a card from great Staten Island runner Abel Kiviat. (Staten Island Running Association)Staten Island Running Association
When we met, I gave Filbert a 1911 map from Abel Kiviat of Staten Island. In 1912, the Curtis graduate set the 1500-meter world record three times in 12 days!
At the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, the newly founded IAAF (now World Athletics) recognized the member of the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame as the first globally recognized world record holder over 1500 m, thus setting the standard.
Abel Kiviat (left) poses with his teammates from the 3000 meter team relay, in which they won Olympic gold.
“I think I met Abel Kiviat in the late 1970s at an indoor competition at Madison Square Garden when he was in his late 80s,” Bayi said of Kiviat, a silver and gold medalist from Stockholm who died in 1991 at the age of 99.
“It is an honor to accept this gift!”
The cover of the book Catch Me If You Can by Filbert Bayi.No credit
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BELL LAP: Please check out Filbert Bayi’s autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, by visiting https://soulsticepublishing.com/product/bayi-book/amp/.
The following images are published with the kind permission of the SI Running Association.
