Birthday: 05/05/56 Mile PR: 3:47.69 - 1982
Metric Mile (1500m) PR: 3:31.76 - 1985
High School: Upland HS '74
Hometown: Upland, CA
College: University of California, Irvine '78
Current Residence: Pacific Grove, CA
Steve Scott was one of the USA's most consistent middle-distance runners ever, recording an astounding 137 sub-4 minute Miles (includes official Mile split from 2000 meter race in 1982), the most by any athlete in history. He set the outdoor U.S. Mile record three times, all in Oslo, Norway, all sub-3:50 (3:49.68 - the first U.S. sub-3:50, 3:48.53 and 3:47.69) and all within a one year period.
Scott also broke the indoor U.S. Mile record three times (his last mark 3:51.8 lasted nearly 24 years before Bernard Lagat broke it in 2005) as well as the U.S. 1500m outdoor record twice.
The holder of eight Mile times under 3:50 was the USA 1500 meter champion six times as well as the USA Indoor Mile champion four times.
Scott's last U.S. Mile record was 3:47.69 set in Oslo, winning the Dream Mile on July 7, 1982 and he held the outdoor U.S. Mile record for more than 26 years - longer than any other U.S. man. In addition, the UC-Irvine grad was the NCAA 1500m champion in 1978 and the three-time U.S. Olympic team member finished 5th at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and 10th at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
In 1983, Scott won the 1500m silver medal at the inaugural World Championships held in Helsinki, Finland, and was also a two-time Dream Mile (1982-83) and 5th Avenue Mile champion (1983, 1988).
In 1999, he was selected as the first Head Cross Country and Track & Field coach at Cal State San Marcos in California; Scott retired at the end of the 2018 track season.
FUN FACT: In 1986, Scott helped create the Carlsbad 5000 in California, the world's fastest 5K road race with 16 world records and counting! He set two of those WRs: 13:32, 1986 and 13:31, 1988.
FUN FACT II: At the 1977 Prefontaine Classic, Scott recorded the event's first sub-4 minute Mile, edging fellow legend Marty Liquori, 3:57.9 to 3:58.0.
FUN FACT III: Steve Scott also produced at least one sub-4 minute Mile for 17 consecutive years (January 15, 1977 to February 20, 1993); only New Zealanders John Walker and Nick Willis have longer streaks (18 years).
FUN FACT IV: Of his record 137 sub-4 Miles, 89 were clocked outdoors and 48 indoors (the most ever), and his first, 100th and last sub-4 were run in Los Angeles, and the first & last indoors. Also, Scott ran 56 of his 137 sub-4s in his home state, California. #GreatScott!
UC Irvine Anteater secures NCAA DI title with strong frontrunning tactics at historic Hayward Field
From USTFCCCA
Steve Scott had no chance to win a fourth-straight NCAA Division II Mile / 1500 meter title in 1978.
That’s because his school, UC Irvine, had moved up to Division I.
However,...
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"I believe one of the keys to my later success was that I wasn't pushed in high school."
By Steve Brand, MileSplit CA
Steve Scott is America's greatest Miler. Not the fastest anymore, but the greatest.
Consider that in his running career, which didn't really take off until he was a...
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Advice to young runners gleaned from his coaching years includes patience, relaxation and trusting in your coach.
By Mike Sandrock, Daily Camera
There have been athletes from 71 countries running faster than 4 minutes for the Mile since Roger Bannister first broke the historic barrier on May...
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Retired CSU-San Marcos coach has moved with wife JoAnn to Pacific Grove, near Monterey, where he continues to run and enjoys the cooler conditions while he ponders his future.
By Nick Canepa for the San Diego Union-Tribune
It was a February night in 1977, when we really, honestly cared about...
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Mile legend the university's first cross cross country and track & field coach since 1999; on campus retirement open house on Thursday, May 10
From Cal State San Marcos
Two-time Olympian Steve Scott, the only cross country and track & field coach in Cal State San Marcos' history, announced...
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“Get over it. If you have a bad workout or a bad race, allow yourself exactly 1 hour to stew about it, then move on.”
By Runner's Tribe
This is Part 1 of a 2 part series. Part 1 looks into Steve Scott’s training during the later stages of his career. By this stage, Steve had already amassed...
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Learn to race the competition, not the clock.
By Jeff Benjamin, RunBlogRun.com
Steve Scott started out as a basebal player. His mom got Steve into running, encouraging him to join her morning jogs. In high school, the future U.S. Olympian ran 1:52 for the 800 meters and 4:15 for the Mile in...
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"If I can expose them to running and show them that it’s fun, then to me that’s rewarding."
By Tom Johnson, Stu News Newport
Had a chance to catch up with Steve Scott last week. Scott obviously is one of the greatest runners in American history. The three-time Olympian attended college at...
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Scott’s perseverance and dedication to the sport of running has helped athletes at CSUSM meet their full potential. This year, he is looking forward to taking his track & field team to the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships held at Cal State Los Angeles in May.
By...
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No matter how many people run under 4 minutes, when you do it your first time it’s something special.
By Adam Elder, Competitor.com
Steve Scott is one of America’s greatest middle-distance runners of all-time, having posted three outdoor U.S. Mile records, a World Championship silver medal,...
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Three-time Olympian and former longtime U.S. Mile record holder being treated at the Scripps Proton Therapy Center in San Diego.
By Don Norcross, Competitor.com
In the United States, when the conversation is track and field, specifically the Mile, one name stands out.
On July...
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In thrilling race against top field, the legend again breaks his U.S. record in Oslo, Norway
By Bring Back the Mile
A Mile is four laps on the track that some have called the perfect distance and a four-act play. Oslo's Bislett Games Dream Mile in the 1980s was the pinnacle of this classic...
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By Barbara Huebner, NYRR News
Some of the greatest Milers in the world have won the Fifth Avenue Mile presented by Nissan, which will be run for the 32nd time on Saturday. Sydney Maree, Steve Scott, Mary Slaney, John Walker, Peter Elliott and Bernard Lagat are among those who have broken the...
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The magic of the Mile apparently will never go away, and some coaches and runners want the 1600 to change back to the Mile, which is slightly longer.
By Steve Brand, MaxPreps.com
In his career, Steve Scott ran a record 137 sub-4 minute Miles. Chances are, no one will ever break that mark...
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Steve Scott, now 40 and a cancer survivor, plans to break 4 minutes again
By John Walters, Sports Illustrated
Steve Scott stands at the starting line on the track at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, in Eugene, on May 26, 1996. He has 4 minutes to prove to himself that he is immortal....
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...and a promise to keep in Cleveland. Eamonn Coghlan and Steve Scott raced in San Diego, then flew all night to meet again
By Kenny Moore, Sports Illustrated
Eamonn Coghlan (3:50.6) and Steve Scott (3:51.8) are the two fastest indoor Milers in history. They hadn't met indoors for two years,...
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“Steve’s greatest assets are his strength and resilience. He can run three days in a row and be as strong the third day as the first.”
By Joe Fares, People
As a freshman member of the Upland, Calif. high school track team, Steve Scott savored the pleasures of life in the slow lane. “I didn’t...
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''It's the best Mile the world's ever seen." - Steve Ovett
By Neil Amdur, New York Times
OSLO, Norway — The Mile moved to a new frontier tonight when seven runners shattered 3 minutes, 51 seconds, led by Steve Ovett's winning 3:49.25 and an American record 3:49.68 by Steve Scott, who was...
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Can young Steve Scott, Miler and soap opera junkie, find happiness and success with a world record? You can bet he'd like to find out
By Kenny Moore, Sports Illustrated
Call it the Seven-Per-Cent Problem. A Miler running at 15 mph—or 4 minutes per Mile—spends a tenth of his energy just...
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