Wade Bell, an Olympian and Oregon Ducks track and field great, died last Thursday at age 79.
The one-time middle distance runner from Ogden, Utah, was an Olympian in the 800 meters in 1968, running for the Oregon Track Club. Bell entered the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and UO Hall of Fame in 1998.
The cause of Bell’s death was not released.
Bell’s personal best of 1:45.17 in the 800, set in 1967, still ranks fifth all-time at Oregon, where he won an NCAA championship in the event. Bell also won gold at the Pan American Games that same year, going on to join the U.S. Olympic team in Mexico City one year later.
With the Ducks, he ran American record times in the 1,000-yard and 1,000-meter races, and was part of a world-record 4x800 relay team.
Bell was among 10 athletes to run a sub-four-minute mile during the Bill Bowerman era at UO between 1956 and 1970.
He remained active in the track and field world following his athletic career, serving as a longtime course clerk at Hayward Field and later as president of the Oregon Track Club and meet director of the Prefontaine Classic.
Wade Bell (center) remained a fixture in the track and field world following his athletic career, serving as a longtime course clerk at Hayward Field and later as president of the Oregon Track Club and meet director of the Prefontaine Classic. Bell died on Thursday, July 4, 2024.Oregon Athletic Communications
Bell also worked as a meet official, including for two days at June’s U.S. Olympic trials before he was hospitalized, according to a report from DyeStat.
-- Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference for The Oregonian and co-hosts the Soccer Made in Portland and Ducks Confidential podcasts. He can be reached at rclarke@oregonian.com or @RyanTClarke.
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