Posted: February 11, 2006

Athletics: News & Notes, Volume 7, Number 13

Olympic medalist Larry Black dies

Sprint star Larry Black, who won two medals at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, died Wednesday of an aneurysm. He was 54.

Black won a gold medal for running the lead leg of Team USA's winning 4x400m relay squad in Munich, where he also captured the silver medal in the 200 meters in 20.19 seconds.

A star at North Carolina Central University, Black earned collegiate All-America honors on 11 occasions, and won the NCAA outdoor 220-yard title in 1971. He also won NAIA outdoor titles in 1971 (220-yd.) and 1972 (200m), and the NAIA indoor 60-yard dash crown in 1974.

A personal trainer in Coral Gables, Florida, for more than 10 years, Black is survived by his wife Cherese, four daughters and two grandsons.

Olympian Lou Jones dies

1956 Olympian Lou Jones of New Rochelle, N.Y., who had battled diabetes in recent years, passed away last Friday. He was 74. Jones set the first of his two world records in the 400 meters in1955 when he ran 45.4 to win the gold medal at the 1955 Pan-American Games in Mexico City. He lowered that to 45.2 at the 1956 U.S. Olympic Trials before finishing fifth in the Olympic final in Melbourne (a race won by National Track & Field Hall of Famer Charlie Jenkins). He later teamed with Jenkins to lead the U.S. to victory in the 4x400m relay. Said Jenkins, "He treated defeat as well he did his victories. That never affected our friendship."Among his other accomplishments, Jones, a member of the Manhattan College Hall of Fame, was the 1954 IC4A champion in the 440y, and the 1956 AAU Indoor 600y champion.

Jones graduated from Manhattan College in 1954 with a degree in business administration and received a master's degree from Teachers College of Columbia University. He was a teacher, coach and administrator at New Rochelle High School, a dean at Manhattan College and an assistant professor at Queensborough Community College.

Marathon man Vincent Carnevale dies

Running enthusiast Vincent Carnevale, who competed in nearly a dozen New York City Marathons and scores of other races, died Tuesday in Bloomfield, N.J. He was 89.

A graduate of Central High School in Newark, N.J., Carnevale became a passionate runner during his junior year and later earned a full running scholarship at Georgetown University. After college he continued to compete in road races while serving in the Coast Guard during World War II. When he returned to life as a civilian he worked in the shipping department for a publishing company for many years before retiring in 1981.

When he was 56 he caught the running bug again after watching the 1972 Olympic Games. After whittling his 5-8 body down to 160 pounds he began to enter races and tried the marathon for the first time at age 70, finishing the race in Atlantic City in 3 hours, 52 minutes, 11 seconds. In 1989 he set the record for a 73-year-old at the New York City Marathon in 3:54:10. On Thanksgiving Day 2002 he finished the Ashenfelter 8 km race in Glen Ridge. It was his 500th race since turning 70.

Carnevale is survived by a niece, Filomena Frantantoni and her husband Vincent; a brother, Jerry; two sisters, Stella Maffei and Rose Sopranzi; and several other nieces and nephews.

Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest