- Remarkable for his versatility, having captured 17 national titles in events as varied as two-mile and cross-country, with both indoor and outdoor titles.
- Inducted into the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame (1975).
- His most notable achievement was his unexpected victory over Vladimir Kazantsev in the Olympic steeplechase. At the time of his Olympic victory, Ashenfelter was an FBI agent. This race won him the Sullivan Award as outstanding amateur athlete of 1952.
- Served as an Army Air Corps fighter pilot during World War II.
- He said that his work at the FBI mainly consisted of doing background checks for federal job applicants, including looking for communist affiliations.
- He had wanted to be a baseball player while studying at Pennsylvania State University. He took up running after a friend told him it was an easy way to get a free locker and hot shower on campus; soon he was winning cross-country races. He received a bachelor's degree in physical education and, while working at the FBI, continued at Penn State for a master's degree in education.
- During his off-hours from his FBI job, he trained for the Olympics at a city park, using the park benches as hurdles.
- Before he won the steeplechase at Helsinki in 1952, no American had won that Olympic event since James Lightbody took the gold medal in St Louis, Missouri in 1904. His younger brother Bill also competed at the 1952 Games before setting a world record in the two-mile relay.
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