Jon Hendershott, 71, Track and Field Journalist

(ATR) Jon Hendershott, one of the world’s leading athletics reporters is remembered by colleagues worldwide.

The Oregon native died April 9 in Salem the day after he spent the weekend covering a track meet. He suffered a major stroke and did not recover.

Hendershott wrote for Track and Field News for 50 years and retired in 2015. In between he was a fixture at world championships and Olympic Games.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe, whom Hendershott covered 30 years ago when Coe was a 1500m phenom, remembered the writer in a Twitter post.

"Jon was already a writer of stature when I graduated on to the circuit. The sport has lost an erudite, passionate and knowledgeable man of athletics," Coe says.

"Jon Hendershott was one of the nicest guys in track and field," said Karen Rosen, who has covered the sport for more than 30 years.

"He was relentlessly upbeat, always smiling, and never hesitated to share a quote or an observation with a harried colleague. His stories for Track & Field News were both entertaining and informative. He will be sorely missed in press tribunes and mixed zones around the world," says Rosen.

"A great journalist, a great colleague, a ceaseless and painstakingly accurate chronicler of the track and field, the sport he loved, a great friend who always had a kind word, a damn fine human being. So saddened by this," says journalist Phil Hersh.

Track and Field News published this remembrance of Hendershott.

The IAAF published this article about Hendershott.

Reported by Ed Hula.