Ken Doherty (track and field)

Ken Doherty (actually John Kenneth Doherty, born May 16, 1905 in Detroit, † 19 April 1996 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was an American decathlete.

In 1928 he qualified as a U.S. champion for the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. There he won the bronze medal with 7706.650 points behind the two Finns Paavo Yrjölä, who set a world record of 8053.290 points, and Akilles Järvinen ( 7931.500 points).

The following year he defended his national title with the U.S. record of 7784.680 points.

After his playing career, he was athletics coach at the University of Michigan, where he was from 1939 a senior coach. In 1948 he moved to the University of Pennsylvania. He also headed from 1956 to 1969, the Penn Relays athletics meeting. Doherty was also evident as the author of textbooks such as Modern Track & Field ( 1955) and Track & Field Omnibook (1971 ) a name.

Publications

• Track & Field Omnibook. 5th edition (edited and updated by John Kernan ). Track & Field News Press, 2007, ISBN 0911521747