Ruth Wysocki (born March 8, 1957 in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July ...

) is an American middle distance runner who specialized in the

800 meters The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') 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 Athle ...

. Wysocki began track competition in age-group races in the late 1960s, and continued her track career over a period of about 30 years, until she became a Masters (over-40) runner in 1997. Wysocki was a standout performer in the 800 m at Azusa High School in

Azusa, California Azusa (Tongva: ''Asuksa-nga'') is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Its population was 50,000 in 2020, a ...

, winning the California State championship at

440 y The 440-yard dash, or quarter-mile race, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. In many countries, athletes compete in the 440 yard dash (402.336 m) – which corresponds to a quarter mile. Many athletic tracks are 440 yard ...

and 880 y. Running for

Citrus College Citrus College is a public community college in Glendora, California. The Citrus Community College District, which supports the institution, includes the communities of Azusa, Claremont, Duarte, Glendora and Monrovia. Founded in 1915 by educato ...

as Ruth Caldwell, she won the CCCAA California State Cross Country Championships in both 1977 and 1978. Later in those seasons, she won the 1978-9 championships at both 800 meters and 1500 meters. Her victories at the Southern California Championships remain the records in both those events. She attended the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university headquartered in Redlands, California. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Califo ...

, where she excelled at 400 and 800 m. Wysocki first won fame in American middle-distance running when she upset

Mary Decker Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world re ...

to win the 1978 US Championships 800 m in 2:01.99. Wysocki scored another upset victory against Decker (now Slaney) at the 1984 US Olympic Trials, this time at 1500 m. Wysocki outsprinted Slaney to win the Trials in 4:00.18. At the 1984 Summer Olympics, held in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

she finished sixth in

800 m The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

and eighth in

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') 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 Athle ...

She finished seventh in 1500 m at the

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 na ...

Gothenburg, Sweden Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

at age 38. In 1997, Wysocki set several Masters records at distances from 800 m – 5000 m on the track, and 5k and 8k road races. Her 800 meters and 1500 meters were ratified as American W40 records on December 5, 2020, more than 23 years after the performances. Her father, Willis Kleinsasser, was also a successful Masters athlete. Her brother, Alan Kleinsasser, ran 1:50.5 for 800 m and 3:52.2 for 1500 m, both school records at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. Ruth is married to Tom Wysocki, who qualified for the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

that were held in Moscow, as the alternate on the

10,000 m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

team, though the United States boycotted that competition.Father of distance runner Wysocki dies Monday
''

Las Vegas Sun The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays from 1990 to 2005 and is n ...

'', November 2, 1998. Retrieived July 8, 2020.

Personal bests

References

External links

Ruth Wysocki
at

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

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Interview with Ruth Wysocki, 2007

University of Redlands Track and Field Top Ten Performances

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wysocki, Ruth 1957 births Living people People from Alhambra, California Track and field athletes from California American female middle-distance runners Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Junior college women's track and field athletes in the United States American masters athletes American Masters Athlete that competed in Olympics