Louise Mead Tricard, a pioneer in women's track and field and the author of two comprehensive books about the history of women's track and field in the United States, died on October 1st of cancer. She was 72.
Louise was a runner of many distances at the national level, and loved the sport like no other, inspiring her to add researcher and historian to her roles as competitor, coach, official and administrator. Her two books, American Women's Track and Field : A History, 1895 Through 1980 followed by American Women's Track and Field, 1981-2000 : A History are must reads for track and field fans and historians of the sport. To my knowledge, these are the only comprehensive books on American women's track and field ever written.
Louise was an early contributor to many track and field "chat lines," including the famous darkwing network hosted by University of Oregon for many years. I remember her candor and her emails always punctuated by ... and ... and .........
The picture above is courtesy of the website masterstrack.com. Louise, you are missed.
Correction: In Kim Spir's 10/05 report on the passing of Louise Mead Tricard she
describes her as "a runner of many distances at the sub-national
level."
In fact Louise was at the national level. There was nothing sub about
her, she was superior in everything she did in life. According to the
USOC "Mead Tricard, who grew up in the Bronx and in recent years lived
in Cape Canaveral, Fla., was an accomplished athlete who ran the 200
meters at the 1959 Pan Am Games and competed in the 1960 Olympic
Trials, in addition to setting the U.S. women's indoor 440-yard dash
record in 1960."
I was on the 59 Pan Am team with Louise and at the 1960 trials and
knew her for years as a friend and fierce competitor who in later
life as women's track and field's historian always ensured accuracy
about all the athletes in her books. Kindly see that the report is
corrected.
Sincerely,
Marjorie Larney
P.S. I'm sorry that I was unable to post a comment directly on the website.
Kim Spir
Louise Mead Tricard, a pioneer in women's track and field and the author of two comprehensive books about the history of women's track and field in the United States, died on October 1st of cancer. She was 72.
Louise was a runner of many distances at the national level, and loved the sport like no other, inspiring her to add researcher and historian to her roles as competitor, coach, official and administrator. Her two books, American Women's Track and Field : A History, 1895 Through 1980 followed by American Women's Track and Field, 1981-2000 : A History are must reads for track and field fans and historians of the sport. To my knowledge, these are the only comprehensive books on American women's track and field ever written.