Two-time U.S. Olympic medal winner Frank Shorter to speak at Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon Health & Fitness Expo
Frank Shorter, the first and only American to win multiple medals in the Olympic marathon, will be
the featured speaker for the Health & Fitness Expo, part of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon
weekend March 28-29.
The Olympian won a gold medal at the 1972 Munich Games and a silver medal at the 1976 Montreal
Olympics. However, Shorter’s first national recognition took place at the University of Tennessee’s
Tom Black Track in Knoxville where he won the 1969 NCAA championship in the six-mile.
Shorter will share inspiring experiences about his award-winning running career at 3 p.m. on
Saturday, March 28, during the Health & Fitness Expo at the World’s Fair Exhibition Hall. The expo,
which takes place from 9 a.m.-8 p.m., is a community pre-race celebration featuring fitness, sports,
wellness and nutrition exhibitors. The event is free and open to both race participants and the
public.
“It’s exciting for Frank to return to Knoxville, the city where his winning started,” Covenant Health
Knoxville Marathon Race Director Jason Altman said. “It’s going to be a special opportunity for
everyone to hear from such an accomplished Olympian ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this
summer.”
Shorter is an icon in the running world whose success at the 1972 Munich Games, along with the
achievements of other American runners, ignited a running boom in the United States during the
1970s.
The Olympian also won the U.S. National Cross Country Championships four times and was a four-
time winner at the Fukuoka Marathon in Fukuoka, Japan, from 1971 to 1974. Following his
numerous running achievements, Shorter was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984
and the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1989.
A life-sized bronze statue of the longtime Colorado resident stands outside Folsom Field at the
University of Colorado. Shorter co-founded the Bolder Boulder 10K held annually at Folsom Field
on Memorial Day to pay tribute to the U.S. armed forces.
The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon weekend takes place at World’s Fair Park and will include
a post-race festival. In addition to the full marathon, the event also features a half-marathon, two-
and four-person relays, 5K and Covenant Kids Run.
The Health & Fitness Expo on Saturday, March 28, also is the location for mandatory packet pickup
for all race participants. Each participant must bring a photo ID in order to receive bib, timing chip,
T-shirt, goody bag and other instructions. There is no Sunday packet pickup.
The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon is a premier event organized by the Knoxville Track Club,
a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the encouragement of physical well-being through running and walking.