On This Date

July 24

1908 — John Hayes wins the Olympic marathon in a record of 2 hours, 55 minutes, 18.4 seconds. Italian Dorando Pietri is the first athlete to enter the stadium, but collapses several times before being disqualified when officials help him across the line. 1931 — Paavo Nurmi sets the world record at 2 miles in a meet at Helsinki, Finland, with a time of 8:59.6. 1960 — Jay Hebert beats Jim Ferrier by one stroke to win the PGA golf tournament. 1967 — Don January wins a playoff by two strokes over Don Massengale to win the PGA championship. 1970 — The International Lawn Tennis Association institutes the nine-point tiebreaker rule. 1976 — John Naber of the United States becomes the first swimmer to break the 2-minute barrier in the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympics in Montreal. 1976 — Mac Wilkins of the United States sets an Olympic record in the discus with a toss of 224 feet in Montreal. 1977 — Hollis Stacy leads wire-to-wire to win the U.S. Women’s Open, her first major championship. Stacy shoots a 4-over 292 to finish two strokes ahead of Nancy Lopez. 1983 — Czechoslovakia beats West Germany 2-1 to win the Fed Cup title. It’s the first final since 1972 that doesn’t involve the United States or Australia. 1998 — Tour de France riders, angered by the drug scandal that has dominated the event, protest by delaying the start of racing for two hours. Armin Meier, a member of the Festina team who was kicked off the tour the previous week, admits to a French radio station that he used a banned drug. 2008 — Nancy Lieberman makes a one-game appearance for the Detroit Shock after the 50-yearold Hall-of-Famer signed a seven-day contract earlier in the day. Lieberman, finishes with two assists and two turnovers, surpassing her own record as the oldest player in WNBA history. Lieberman held the record playing at age 39 in 1997 while playing for the Phoenix Mercury. 2009 — Ron Hornaday Jr. holds off a late challenge from Mike Skinner to win the AAA Insurance 200, making him the first driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to win four consecutive races. 2010 — Fourteen-year-old Jim Liu of Smithtown, N.Y., beats Justin Thomas of Goshen, Ky., 4 and 2 to become the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur champion. Liu, who turns 15 next month, is more than six months younger than Tiger Woods when he won the first of his three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles in 1991. 2014 — Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice receives a two-game suspension from the NFL following his offseason arrest for domestic violence. The six-year veteran was arrested following a Feb. 15 altercation in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with thenfiancee Janay Palmer. 2016 — Chris Froome celebrates his third Tour de France title in four years. Froome, who also won the Tour in 2013 and 2015, becomes the first rider to defend the title since Miguel Indurain won the last of his five straight in 1995. Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven consecutive titles for doping.