Willie Banks, Don Franken and Eamonn Coghlan with the Al Franken Heritage Plaque (© Kirby Lee)
Legendary Los Angeles track and field promoter and meeting director Al Franken has been posthumously awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the Legend category.
The plaque was unveiled on Thursday 28 May during a special ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, one of the landmark venues associated with Franken’s remarkable career in athletics promotion.
Franken, who died in 2021 at the age of 96, is regarded as one of the most influential, innovative and prolific promoters in the history of the sport. Over more than half a century, he organised more than 100 world-class meetings, at which 95 world records and hundreds of US records were set, with more than 120 Olympic gold medallists competing in his events.
“Al Franken transformed athletics promotion in the United States and far beyond, creating competitions that brought together the world’s greatest athletes while helping shape the modern era of our sport,” said World Athletics Council Member Willie Banks. “His vision, innovation and lifelong commitment to athletes left a lasting legacy that continues to resonate across generations, from Olympic champions to young competitors discovering athletics for the first time.”
Al Franken (© Don Franken archives)
Three-time Olympian and former world triple jump record-holder Banks represented World Athletics at the ceremony. The plaque was accepted by Don Franken, Al Franken’s son, who worked with his father for 25 years.
Franken’s influence extended across generations of athletes and across disciplines. Virtually every major figure in US track and field history competed in his meetings. Several of those athletes were among the 100 guests who attended the ceremony: Maurice Greene, Olympic 100m champion and former world record-holder; Eamonn Coghlan of Ireland, nicknamed “The Chairman of the Boards”, who set two indoor mile world records at Franken’s Jack in the Box Invitational in San Diego; Martha Watson, a four-time US Olympian in the long jump; Herman Frazier, 1976 Olympic gold medallist in the 4x400m; Steve Williams, one of the world’s leading sprinters during the 1970s; Reynaldo Brown, who reached the 1968 Olympic high jump final while still in high school; and Danny Harris, Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist in 1984.
Legendary coaches Ron Allice, the former USC athletic director, and Bob Larsen, former UCLA head coach, also paid tribute to Franken. Also in attendance were Michael Cooper, the former Los Angeles Lakers star, and actor John Savage, best known for his role in the classic film The Deer Hunter.
The Al Franken Heritage Plaque in Los Angeles
Among the competitions Franken created or promoted were the Los Angeles / Sunkist Invitational at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, the Jack in the Box / Michelob Invitational at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA, the San Francisco indoor meeting at the Cow Palace, and the Kinney / Footlocker outdoor meeting at Cal Berkeley.
In 1960, Franken launched indoor athletics on the West Coast with the Los Angeles Invitational. He was also among the first promoters to bring title sponsorship into athletics, with Sunkist sponsoring the Los Angeles Invitational for 26 years, from 1970 to 1995.
A strong advocate for athletes and for the professionalisation of the sport, Franken helped create meetings that became classics of the athletics calendar. His events combined elite competition, entertainment, media attention and opportunities for young athletes, with high school sections allowing thousands of rising talents to compete alongside Olympic champions and world record-holders.
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque is awarded for outstanding contributions to the worldwide history and development of athletics. The Plaque will remain on permanent display at the south end of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, beside the plaque listing the stadium’s track and field records.
World Athletics Heritage