U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL LOS ANGELES 1991 : NOTEBOOK

In the 1979 mile that brought Sydney Maree international attention, he was the designated rabbit, the runner who was assigned to set a fast pace and then drop out.

Maree, then 19, did not drop out as he led the milers through a sub-4-minute pace in the twilight race. Maree felt too good to stop running.

He said the shadows reflected across the South Africa’s Port Elizabeth stadium from inside to outside the track. As he accelerated, he heard the roar of the crowd rise up from the stadium.

“I saw my shadow on the outside and thought it was Clive Dale,” Maree recounted.

Maree thought the cheers were for Dale, who he believed was coming up on his shoulder. He increased the pace to counter the attack and went on to to win in 3 minutes 57.9 seconds.

One problem: Dale was never on his shoulder.

“They were cheering for me,” Maree said. “They were cheering for a great performance. It didn’t matter who the person was.”

Maree’s time was noticed in the United States, and a Philadelphia running club eventually invited him to visit. Maree ended up staying, attending Villanova and becoming a U.S. running star.

He competed in the 1984 and ’88 Olympics for the United States.