Archie Joseph San Romani (17 September 1912 – 7 November 1994) was an American

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

. San Romani placed 4th in the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometers ...

at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

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and set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

at 2000 meters the following year.

Early life

San Romani was born in Frontenac,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, on 17 September 1912. He was run over by a truck at age 8, and his right leg was mangled so badly that doctors considered amputating it; he took up running as a form of rehabilitation. His childhood paralleled that of his future friend and rival Glenn Cunningham, who was also from Kansas and also nearly had a leg amputated at age 8.

Athletic career

San Romani studied at Emporia State Teachers College, getting his degree in

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. It was there that he became one of the world's leading milers. He won the 1935 NCAA Championship mile by inches, edging out

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's Henry Williamson in 4:19.1. He was third behind Cunningham and Gene Venzke at the

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

that year. He repeated as NCAA champion in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

, winning the 1500 m title in a meet record 3:53.0. At the national championships in

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

he finished second to Cunningham but beat Venzke and world record holder

Bill Bonthron William Robert Bonthron (November 1, 1912 – January 17, 1983) was an American middle-distance runner who held the world record at 1500 meters for two years. Career Bonthron studied at Princeton University. In 1933, his junior year, Bonthron was ...

for the first time. At the

Olympic Trials Olympic trials are competitions held in certain sports to select teams' participants in those sports at the Olympic Games. History Before 1908, members of United States Olympic teams were selected without trials. The 1908 and 1912 teams were s ...

the next week San Romani took the lead on the third lap and held it until Cunningham made his move with 300 meters to go. The two then fought a close battle with Cunningham prevailing by inches. Both were timed in 3:49.9, barely a second outside Bonthron's world record. Venzke was third, and these three were selected for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

in Berlin. At the Olympics San Romani placed second in his heat to qualify for the final. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

he finished fourth in 3:50.0, missing out to

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Jack Lovelock John Edward Lovelock (5 January 1910 – 28 December 1949) was a New Zealand athlete who became the world 1500m and mile record holder and 1936 Olympic champion in the 1500 metres. Early life Lovelock was born in the town of Crushington ...

(who set a new world record), Cunningham and

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's defending champion

Luigi Beccali Luigi Beccali (19 November 1907 – 29 August 1990) was the first Italian to win an Olympic gold medal in running, in the 1500 metres at the 1932 Summer Olympics, and the first Italian to win a European Championship title in athletics. Biograp ...

. A week later, he was part of a United States relay team (with Chuck Hornbostel, Venzke and Cunningham) that set a new world record of 17:17.2 in the 4 x Mile relay. Finally, in October he scored an upset victory in Princeton, defeating both Lovelock and Cunningham. San Romani never won a national outdoor title, but he did become American indoor champion in 1937, beating an international field including Beccali and Venzke. He ran his personal mile best of 4:07.2 in winning the 1937 Princeton Invitational Mile and stayed in good shape for the rest of the year. In

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on 5 August he ran the mile in 4:08.4 - less than two seconds outside Cunningham's world record - despite halting after 1500 meters under the impression that had been the end of the race. Three weeks later in

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he ran 2000 meters in a world record time of 5:16.8, breaking

Henry Jonsson John Henry Jonsson (12 May 1912 – 9 March 2001) was a Swedish runner who won a bronze medal over 5000 m at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He finished second at the 1938 European Championships. In 1940 he changed his name to Henry Kälarne, and was ...

's previous mark of 5:18.4. San Romani's world record lasted for almost five years until

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Gunder Hägg Gunder Hägg (31 December 1918 – 27 November 2004)Gunder Hägg passes away
IAAF (28 N ...

ran 5:16.4 in July 1942. In the winter of 1938 San Romani suffered from health problems and lost some conditioning. While he managed to return as a leading contender and only narrowly lost to Cunningham in the 1938 Princeton mile, he never improved his personal bests again. He placed third at the national championships that year and remained one of America's leading milers until his retirement in 1940.

Retirement and later life

After retiring from Track & Field he lived in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

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for several years, working first as a musical instructor and then at the local shipyard. In 1945 he moved back to Kansas and opened a jewelry store in Wichita. He eventually moved to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to teach music again he taught at Dale Jr High School, and Sycamore Jr. High School, in Anaheim California ; he died in Auberry,

on 7 November 1994. He was posthumously inducted into the

Kansas Sports Hall of Fame The Kansas Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in Wichita, dedicated to preserving the history of sports in the state of Kansas. The museum provides exhibits, archives, facilities, services, and activities to honor those individuals and t ...

in 2004.

Personal life

San Romani married Lena Plumley in 1937. They had five children. Their only son, Archie San Romani Jr., also became a quality miler. A standout already in high school, the younger San Romani placed fifth at the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 1963 and second in 1964. At the 1964

he finished fifth as the top three again made the Olympic team. ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

'' ranked him #6 in the United States that year. He ran his best mile of 3:56.6 in 1964. https://www.registerguard.com/article/20160527/sports/305279958 Barrier Breakers], ''

Register-Guard ''The Register-Guard'' is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, published in Eugene, Oregon. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the ''Eugene Daily Guard'' and the ''Morning Register''. The paper serves the Eugene ...

'', May 27, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Romani, Archie 1912 births 1994 deaths People from Frontenac, Kansas Emporia State University alumni American male middle-distance runners World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Emporia State Hornets men's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen