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 IC4A champion at both 800 meters and 1500 meters and then set an American record in a Princeton mile race against New Zealand's Jack Lovelock. Bonthron finished seven yards back in 4:08.7, also under Jules Ladoumègue's old world mark. On June 16 Bonthron was again on the losing end of a mile world record, as Cunningham beat him in the Princeton Invitational Mile in 4:06.7. However, Bonthron came back to beat Cunningham at the NCAA championships on June 23 in a meet record time of 4:08.9. A week later at the national championships in Milwaukee, Bonthron defeated Cunningham again. The race was over 1500 meters; Cunningham went out hard and was still well ahead a hundred yards from the tape, but Bonthron came through with a blistering sprint to win by two feet in a new world record time of 3:48.8. Cunningham's time was 3:48.9, also inside Luigi Beccali's previous record of 3:49.0.

Although Bonthron originally intended to retire from running after graduating, he ended up not doing so; he, Cunningham and Gene Venzke remained America's leading milers in 1935. However, Bonthron was not in his best shape in 1936 and only placed fourth at the Olympic Trials (behind Cunningham, Archie San Romani and Venzke), failing to make the Olympic team and subsequently retiring.

In April, 1936, Bonthron, along with many other sports champions and stand outs, was honored at a banquet in Detroit, MI. This Banquet was the first celebration of Champions Day.