Henry Dinwoodey Marsh is a retired runner from the United States….who made four U.S. Olympic teams….1976 Montreal Olympics, 1980 Moscow Olympics (boycotted by USA), 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics….when entering the men’s track 3000 meter steeplechase event during the 1984 Olympics…Marsh was ranked #2 in the world. On race day for the 3,000 meter steeplechase finals….Marsh finished fourth (losing out on the bronze medal to teammate Brian Diemer by only 0.19 seconds)….then collapsed to the track…and was carried out of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a gurney.
In 1985 Marsh joined the sub-4 minute group of milers with a 3:59.31 run at Bern, Switzerland on August 16…as Track & Field News ranked him the number one steeple chaser in the world for 1981, 1982, and 1985. Moreover, he was world ranked (i.e., top 10) in this event for 12 consecutive years, 1977-1988. Marsh broke the American Record for the steeplechase on four different occasions: 8:21.55 (July 5, 1977), 8:15.68 (June 28, 1980), 8:12.37 (August 17, 1983), and 8:09.17 (August 28, 1985)….the last mark lasted almost 21 years until Daniel Lincoln ran 8:08.82 in Rome on July 14, 2006.Marsh was the American champion in the steeplechase nine times (1978, 1979, 1981–1987) and in 1983 received the Glenn Cunningham Award as the best distance runner in America.
This lil ole Chiweenie dog of a sportsphile just loves athletes like Henry Marsh….the “give it all you got…..and then give some more” type of athletes…..and he showed that awesome attitude in the finals of the 1984 Olympic Games….for this steeple chaser has been the gold standard for the 3000 m steeple chase in the United States of America….even still today.
