Matthew Centrowitz Sr. (born January 28, 1955) is a two-time Olympic distance runner, a four-time United States champion, a collegiate All-American, a nationally renowned high school athlete, and a collegiate cross country and track coach.

Life and early career

Centrowitz was born in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, the son of Theresa (Corrigan) and Sid Centrowitz. His father was

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and his mother was an Irish immigrant. He attended

Power Memorial Academy Power Memorial Academy (PMA) was an all-boys Catholic high school located in the Manhattan borough of New York City that operated from 1931 through 1984. It was a basketball powerhouse, producing several NBA players including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, ...

, where he won state championships in the half mile, one mile and two mile events and became the first New Yorker to break nine minutes in the two mile run (8:56.2). In 1973 (his senior year), he was ranked as the country's number one high school mile runner. He has the fourth best all-time high school 1500 m time of 3:43.4 and still holds the state record in the 1500 m and mile (4:02.7) events. He attended Manhattan College in New York for one year, then transferred to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. In 1976, he broke

Steve Prefontaine Steve Roland Prefontaine (January 25, 1951 – May 30, 1975) was an American long-distance runner who from 1973 to 1975 set American records at every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 meters. He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and he w ...

's 1500 m school record, running 3:36.7. He was on the Ducks' 1977 NCAA Cross Country Championship team and graduated from Oregon in 1978.

International competition

Centrowitz was a member of the US Olympic Team in 1976, competing in the 1500 m. He qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. He was one of 461 athletes to receive a

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

instead. He won a gold medal in the 5000 m run at the 1979 Pan-American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and followed that with four United States national championships in the 5000 m run from 1979 to 1982. In 1982, he set the American record in the 5000 m with a time of 13:12.91.

Coaching

He was the track coach for the Reebok Enclave, in charge of training distance runners who tried out for the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic Team. He has coached three Olympians: David Strang, John Trautman and Jen Rhines; and 1993 U.S. 1500 m Champion Bill Burke. Centrowitz is a member of the U.S. Olympic Development Committee. Centrowitz began his coaching career as an assistant track coach at

St. John's University (New York) St. John's University is a private university, private Catholic university in Queens, New York City, United States. It was founded in 1870 by the Congregation of the Mission (C.M., the Vincentian Fathers) with a mission to provide the youth of ...

. He restarted the track program at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in 1999, becoming the cross-country and track coach. Centrowitz has coached seven All-American runners. In 2001–02, his athletes captured nine

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

titles in track and field, earned seventeen All-League honors, two All-Region honors and one All-East award. In 2003–04, both the men's and women's cross country teams captured league titles, five of the six Athletes of the Meet, twenty First-Team All-League selections and nine Second-Team All-League selections. In 2004–05, the men's cross country team won its third straight Patriot League title. In July, 2018, he was named Cross Country and Track and Field Director at Manhattan College.

Awards and honors

Centrowitz was inducted into the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame with the other members of the 1977 University of Oregon Cross Country team in 1998. In 2005, he was named Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year.

Personal life

Matt Centrowitz and his wife Beverly had three children while living in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. Two of his children, daughter Lauren and son Matthew Jr. are also accomplished distance runners. Lauren competed for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and qualified for 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 ...

in 2012. Matt Jr competed for the

(his father's alma mater) and competed professionally with the

Bowerman Track Club The Bowerman Track Club (BTC) is an American training group sponsored by Nike, Inc. It previously featured a professional team last coached by Jerry Schumacher and assistants Shalane Flanagan, Chris Solinsky, and Alex Ostberg. The non-professional ...

. In 2011, Matt Jr. became the 2011 United States Champion in the

1500 metres 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 kilomet ...

and was the bronze medalist at

in the 2011 World Championships. In 2016, he won the gold medal at the 2016 World Indoor Championships and then won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, becoming the first U.S. runner to win the event since 1908.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Centrowitz, Matt 1955 births Living people American male middle-distance runners American male long-distance runners American people of Irish descent American people of Jewish descent Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States University of Oregon alumni Sportspeople from Annapolis, Maryland Sportspeople from the Bronx Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes Congressional Gold Medal recipients St. John's Red Storm track and field coaches American Eagles track and field coaches American Eagles cross country coaches Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Track and field athletes from New York City Jewish American track and field athletes 20th-century American sportsmen