# 1959 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

The 1959 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were organized by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) and served as the national championships in outdoor track and field for the United States.
The men's edition was held at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado, and it took place 19–20 June. The women's meet was held separately at John Adams Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on 27-28 June.
The men's championships were held at high altitude, and about 8,000 spectators attended the final day. Charlie Tidwell ran the world record for 220 yards hurdles around a turn. The women's meet served as the qualifiers for athletics at the 1959 Pan American Games. It was the only time the 60 metres, often held indoors today, was held at the USA Outdoor Championships.

## Results
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 m | Ray Norton | 10.5 | Robert Poynter | 10.5 | William Woodhouse | 10.6 |
| 200 m | Ray Norton | 20.8 | Vance Robinson | 21.0 | Lester Carney | 21.2 |
| 400 m | Edward Southern | 46.1 | Dave Mills (CAN) | 46.4 | Jack Yerman | 46.6 |
| 800 m | Tom Murphy | 1:47.9 | Jerome Walters | 1:48.5 | Ernest Cunliffe | 1:50.0 |
| 1500 m | Dyrol Burleson | 3:47.5 | Jim Grelle | 3:48.4 | Ed Moran | 3:48.9 |
| 5000 m | William Dellinger | 14:47.6 | Lew Stieglitz | 14:48.8 | Max Truex | 14:50.2 |
| 10000 m | Max Truex | 31:22.4 | Allan Lawrence (AUS) | 31:35.5 | Bob Soth | 32:12.6 |
| Marathon | John J. Kelley | 2:21:54.4 | James Green | 2:29:51.0 | Anthony Sapienza | 2:36:14.0 |
| 110 m hurdles | Lee Calhoun | 14.0 | Hayes Jones | 14.0 | Elias Gilbert | 14.1 |
| 200 m hurdles | Charles Tidwell | 22.6 | | | | |
| 400 m hurdles | Dick Howard | 50.7 | Glenn Davis | 50.9 | Joshua Culbreath | 51.7 |
| 3000 m steeplechase | Philip Coleman | 9:19.3 | George Young | 9:36.7 | Charles Jones | 9:38.5 |
| 3000 m walk | Eliott Denman | 13:52.2 | | | | |
| High jump | Charles Dumas | 2.06 m | Errol Williams | 2.00 m | Robert Gardner | 2.00 m |
| Pole vault | Donald Bragg | 4.65 m | Ron Morris | 4.65 m | Jim Graham | 4.65 m |
| Long jump | Gregory Bell | 7.95 m | Joel Wiley | 7.91 m | Irvin Roberson | 7.78 m |
| Triple jump | Ira Davis | 15.40 m | Herman Stokes | 15.31 m | Bill Sharpe | 15.21 m |
| Shot put | Parry O'Brien | 18.95 m | Dave Davis | 18.41 m | Dallas Long | 18.32 m |
| Discus throw | Alfred Oerter | 56.82 m | Parry O'Brien | 55.10 m | Richard Cochran | 55.07 m |
| Hammer throw | Hal Connolly | 66.09 m | John Lawlor (IRL) | 63.56 m | Robert Backus | 60.12 m |
| Javelin throw | Albert Cantello | 75.21 m | Buster Quist | 72.59 m | Philip Conley | 71.88 m |
| Weight throw for distance | Bob Backus | 44 ft 31⁄2 in (13.5 m) | | | | |
| Pentathlon | Dixon Farmer | 3196 pts | | | | |
| All-around decathlon | Tom Pagani | 7874 pts | | | | |
| Decathlon | Chuan-Kwang Yang (TWN) | 7549 pts | David Edstrom | 7544 pts | Mike Herman | 6760 pts |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 60 m | Isabell Daniels | 7.6 | Barbara Jones | 7.6 | Martha Hudson | 7.6 |
| 100 m | Wilma Rudolph | 12.1 | Lucinda Williams | 12.1 | Barbara Jones | 12.3 |
| 200 m | Isabell Daniels | 24.1 | Lucinda Williams | 24.4 | Wilma Rudolph | 24.4 |
| 400 m | Kim Polson | 59.0 | Rose Lovelace | 59.3 | Isabelle Gonzalez | 59.7 |
| 800 m | Grace Butcher | 2:21.2 | Lillian Greene | 2:23.0 | Florence McArdle | 2:24.3 |
| 80 m hurdles | Shirley Crowder | 11.7 | Barbara Mueller | 11.7 | JoAnn Terry | 11.8 |
| High jump | Liz Josefsen (DEN) | 1.62 m | Ann Roniger | 1.60 m | Rose Robinson | 1.57 m |
| Long jump | Margaret Matthews | 5.90 m | Anna Lois Smith | 5.83 m | Willye White | 5.73 m |
| Shot put | Earlene Brown | 14.14 m | Sharon Shepherd | 12.89 m | Wanda Wejzgrowicz | 12.19 m |
| Discus throw | Earlene Brown | 46.84 m | Pamela Kurrell | 41.49 m | Marie Depree (CAN) | 41.02 m |
| Javelin throw | Marjorie Larney | 46.57 m | Amelia Wershoven | 46.23 m | Elsa Backus (FIN) | 41.81 m |
| Women's pentathlon | Ann Roniger | 4075 pts | Barbara Mueller | 3996 pts | Liz Josefsen (DEN) | 3680 pts |