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Full Movie - The Magician Featuring Bill Dellinger
Who Are We...The Magician…A story of Oregon’s running and coaching legend A running hero to more than just all the athletes he coached, but to distance runners throughout the nation, Bill Dellinger established a reputation of unassuming excellence in the world of running. Dellinger was born in Grants Pass, Oregon on March 23, 1934, and went to college at the University of Oregon where he started training with esteemed coach Bill Bowerman. Beginning his career knowing little about racing and competition, he soon showed just how far he had come when he became the first sophomore at Oregon to win the NCAA mile in 1954 and later went on to win every collegiate cross-country race. In 1956, Dellinger beat the American 5000 meters record three times, and won the 5000 meters at both the NCAA and Olympic Trials. Not feeling ready to compete in the Olympics however, he dropped out of the Olympic final in Melbourne, and started running twice a day to improve. He went on to compete in the 1960 and 1964 Olympic Games, where he won the Bronze medal in Japan. He became the 1959 Pan American Games 5,000 meters champion. He won three national titles and set numerous national records. After serving as Bowerman’s assistant coach in 1967, Dellinger became the University of Oregon head Cross Country coach in 1968 followed by the head Track coach in 1973. In his 31 years of coaching at Oregon, he guided stars like Steve Prefontaine, Matt Centrowitz, Alberto Salazar, Rudy Chapa, David Mack and Danny Lopez. His teams won four NCAA cross-country titles, five runner-up finishes and four third-place honors. In 1984, his University of Oregon Track & Field team won the NCAA title and later that summer Dellinger became the distance coach for Team USA at the 1984 Olympic Games in LA. Dellinger retired in 1998, but continued to coach a few individuals, including Mary Slaney, and his last Olympian – Nick Rogers who competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney Australia. Arguably one of the most talented distance runners of his time, Dellinger leaves his mark on Oregon as both an athlete and a coach. --- Credits: Who is interviewed in the film: |
