Harold Manning

Harold William Manning (January 9, 1909 – January 26, 2003) was an American long-distance runner. He held the American record in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase from 1934 to 1952 and briefly held the world best in 1936. He represented the United States in the steeplechase at the 1936 Summer Olympics, placing fifth.

Biography

Manning was born in Sedgwick, Kansas on January 9, 1909. He took up running as a schoolboy; in 1927, his senior year at Sedgwick High School, he won the mile run at both the Kansas state meet and the national interscholastic meet in Chicago. After graduating from high school Manning went to Wichita University on an athletic scholarship. At that year's United States outdoor championships, organized by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), Manning placed third in the mile. Manning won the two miles at the 1930 NCAA meet, becoming Wichita University's first national champion; his winning time, 9:18.1, broke Abbott's meeting record from 1928 and missed Tell Berna's collegiate record from 1912 by only three-tenths of a second. Manning graduated from Wichita University in 1931. He entered the final United States Olympic Trials as one of the favorites to make the American team, but failed to replicate his earlier form; he placed fifth in 9:35.0, missing third place and the final Olympic spot by approximately eighty yards.

Manning won his first AAU championship title in the steeplechase in 1934, outkicking defending champion Joe McCluskey in 9:13.1; he broke McCluskey's American record of 9:14.5 from the 1932 Olympic Trials. At the 1935 AAU championships Manning placed second behind McCluskey, but he regained the title in 1936. In his record run Manning hurdled the water jumps without touching the barriers, then a new technique. The warm conditions at the Trials (which were held during the 1936 North American heat wave) were not conducive to setting records in long-distance races; interviewed after the race, Manning noted he was used to hot weather. The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) did not ratify world records in the steeplechase before 1954, so Manning's time was only a world best; it was officially ratified as an American record but not as a world record. Manning's chances were damaged when he fell ill en route to the Olympics and recovered slowly. In Berlin he placed second behind Iso-Hollo in his heat; in the final he stayed in medal contention for most of the way but was outkicked at the end and placed fifth in 9:11.2. Iso-Hollo, who won in 9:03.8, regained the world best; the other medalists (Kaarlo Tuominen and Alfred Dompert) also broke Manning's Trials mark.