Abel Kiviat, the outstanding middle-distance runner of his time, won gold and silver medals at the 1912 Olympic Games.
A nine-time national champion at distances from 600 yards to the mile, Kiviat broke his own 1,500-meter world record three times in 13 days, and his mark of 3:55.8 stood for six years. He remains the only runner to win national championships at 600 and 1,000 yards on the same night.
Class of 1995
Did You Know?
The 1912 1,500-meter final at the Stockholm Olympics, in which Abel Kiviat was beaten for the gold by Britain’s Arnold Jackson, marked the first time photos were used to determine the order of finish in an Olympic race.
