Track and field legends including Eamonn Coghlan and Maurice Greene gathered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Thursday for the unveiling of a World Athletics Heritage Plaque honoring legendary meet promoter Al Franken.
Franken — not to be confused with the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian and U.S. senator of the same name — was selected for the World Athletics Heritage Plaque in the Legends category, which honors individuals who made outstanding contributions to the worldwide history and development of track and field.
Three-time Olympian and former triple jump world record holder Willie Banks, the U.S. representative on the World Athletics Council, presented the plaque to Franken’s son Don, who worked alongside his father for 25 years,.
“Al Franken is one of the most important, innovative, and prolific promoters in the history of American and world track and field,” Banks said.
Franken promoted more than 100 world-class meets during his career, events that produced 95 world records and featured more than 120 Olympic gold medalists, organizers said.
He was credited with helping professionalize track and field in the United States through meets including the Los Angeles/Sunkist Invitational, the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA and the San Francisco indoor meet at Cow Palace.
Others attending the ceremony included Martha Watson, a four-time U.S. Olympian in the long jump; Herman Frazier, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist in the 4×400-meter relay; Steve Williams, considered one of the world*s best sprinters during the 1970s; Reynaldo Brown, who competed in the 1968 Olympic high jump final while still in high school; and Danny Harris, silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympics.
Franken died in 2021 at his Westwood home from acute myeloid leukemia at age 96.
Organizers said the plaque will remain permanently displayed at the Coliseum, one of the primary venues where Franken staged many of his internationally known invitational meets.