Jan Merrill
Janice "Jan" Melbourne Merrill (born June 18, 1956) is a retired American runner. She was the dominant long distance runner of the middle 1970s, a notable front runner, her uniform with the large "M" on her chest would usually break away to an insurmountable lead in domestic meets. She was equally untouchable in self-promotion or dealing with the media, often deferring to her coach, Norm Higgins. At various points in time she held the American record in the 1500 meters (4:02.61 set on July 29, 1976) during the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters. She lost other record opportunities because the only times she could get a decent race in the United States was against men.
Merrill in 1975 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | June 18, 1956 New London, Connecticut | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 52 kg (115 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | 800–10,000 m | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Connecticut College Age Group Athletes Association | ||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Norm Higgins | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 800 m – 2:02.80 (1977) 1500 m – 4:02.61 (1976) Mile – 4:28.3 (1979) 3000 m – 8:42.6 (1978) 5000 m – 15:30.6 (1980) 10,000 m – 32.03. (1981) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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She won the U.S. title at 1500 meters twice outdoors, 3000 meters 4 times, twice in the indoor mile, twice in the indoor 2 mile and twice in Cross Country. After retiring from competitions she became a high school and college track coach.