John Gregorek
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||
| Born | April 15, 1960 Huntington, New York | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track | ||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 1500 meters, mile, 3000 meters steeplechase, 5000 meters | ||||||||||||||
| College team | Georgetown | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 1500m: 3:35.3[1] Mile: 3:51.34[1] 3000m: 7:42.18[1] 3k steeple: 8:18.45[1] 5000m: 13:17.44[1] | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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John Gregorek (born 15 April 1960) is an American former middle-distance runner who competed in the Summer Olympics in 1980 (boycotted) and 1984.[2] His son, John Gregorek Jr., is also a competitive middle-distance runner,[3] who competed in the 2017 World Championships.
Running career
[edit]High school
[edit]Gregorek attended St. Anthony's High School, for which he competed in cross country and track.[4] By the time he graduated high school, he was the fastest high school runner in the United States in 1978, posting times of 4:05.4 in the mile and 8:50.7 in two miles.[3]
Collegiate
[edit]Gregorek attended Georgetown on an athletic scholarship. In his sophomore year he made the US Olympic team as a 3000-m steeplechaser but was unable to compete due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. He did however receive one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.[5] On April 23, 1982, Gregorek was the anchor of the Georgetown distance medley team which ended Villanova's 16-year DM streak at the Penn Relays, beating Villanova's anchor and celebrated runner Ross Donoghue by two meters.[6]
Post-collegiate
[edit]Gregorek represented the United States at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics, ran the second heat of the 5000 meters and recorded a time of 14:01. He did not make it past the first round. In 1992, Gregorek finished third in the 1992 US Olympic Trials for the 5000 meters, but did not appear at the 1992 Summer Olympics.[7]
Gregorek moved to Seekonk, Massachusetts, and coached the men's distance and cross country teams at Brown University for a time.[3] He was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Track & Field Category with the Class of 2015.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "John GREGOREK - Athlete Profile". IAAF.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "John Gregorek". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
- ^ a b c Malinowski, Bill. "A Family's Passion, A Son's Success".
- ^ Caulfield, Brian. "A Race to Faith".
- ^ Caroccioli, Tom; Caroccioli, Jerry (2008). Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Highland Park, IL: New Chapter Press. pp. 243–253. ISBN 978-0942257403.
- ^ [1] Litsky, Frank. The New York Times: Georgetown Ends Villanova's Streak (in English) 24 April 1982
- ^ [2] Track and Field Statistics - USA Olympic Trials -Men's - New Orleans 1992
World University Games champions in men's 3000 metres steeplechase | |
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- 1960 births
- Living people
- American male middle-distance runners
- American male steeplechase runners
- Georgetown Hoyas men's track and field athletes
- Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Track and field athletes from New York (state)
- Congressional Gold Medal recipients
- Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
- People from Seekonk, Massachusetts
- Sportspeople from Huntington, New York
- Brown Bears cross country coaches
- Brown Bears track and field coaches
- FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States
- Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade
- St. Anthony's High School (South Huntington, New York) alumni
- NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
- 20th-century American sportsmen