Stanislav Jungwirth Explained

Stanislav Jungwirth
Birth Date:15 August 1930
Birth Place:Prachatice, Czechoslovakia
Death Place:Prague, Czechoslovakia

Stanislav Jungwirth (15 August 1930 – 11 April 1986) was a Czechoslovak middle-distance runner. Jungwirth came third in the 1500 metres at the 1954 European Championships and set a world record for the same distance in 1957.

Career

Jungwirth started training seriously in 1949.[1] By 1951, he was already a quality runner, running the 1500 metres in 3:48.8;[1] Track and Field News ranked him No. 8 in the world that year.[2] In 1952, he won the Czechoslovak championship at both 800 and 1500 metres and was selected to run the latter distance at the Olympics in Helsinki,[1] where he survived the heats but went out in the semi-finals.[3] Late in October 1952, he set a new world record at 1000 metres in Stará Boleslav, running 2:21.2 to better Olle Åberg's time by 0.1 seconds. This record was broken less than ten months later by the United States' Mal Whitfield.[4]

Jungwirth continued improving and won his only international medal at the 1954 European Championships in Bern, where he was third behind Roger Bannister and Gunnar Nielsen with a time of 3:45.4.[1] At the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne he finished 6th in 3:42.6.[1] [3]

On 12 July 1957 - again in Stará Boleslav - Jungwirth ran 1500 metres in 3:38.1, breaking the world record of 3:40.2 set just the previous day by Finland's Olavi Salsola and Olavi Salonen.[4] [5] A week later in London, he was the first Czechoslovak to run a four-minute mile;[6] however, his time of 3:59.1 was only good enough for third place while the winner, Derek Ibbotson, ran a new world record 3:57.2.[4] [6]

Jungwirth suffered from health problems in 1958[1] and was 8th at the European Championships, even though his time of 3:44.4 was a second faster than his bronze medal performance in 1954. He lost his world record on 28 August 1958, when Australia's Herb Elliott ran 3:36.0 in Göteborg;[4] Jungwirth himself was second in that race in 3:39.0.[1] Jungwirth's health problems continued in 1959 and 1960 and he was unable to take part in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He retired from athletics as a result.[1]

Track and Field News ranked Jungwirth in the world's top 10 at 1500 metres seven times between 1951 and 1959, with a highest ranking of No. 3 in 1957. Jungwirth also made the top 10 at 800 metres in 1952 and 1953.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Stanislav Jungwirth. Czech . Urbánek, Jaroslav . atletickytrenink.cz . 1 December 2006 . 17 May 2013 .
  2. World Rankings — Men's 1500/Mile . Track and Field News . 17 May 2013.
  3. Web site: Stanislav Jungwirth Bio, Stats and Results . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418100619/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ju/stanislav-jungwirth-1.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . Sports Reference LLC . 17 May 2013.
  4. Book: Butler, Mark . IAAF Media & Public Relations Department . . IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011 . 2011.
  5. Web site: SUL 100 vuotta - Kolmen Olavin unohtumaton ilta . Finnish . Finnish Athletics Association . 17 May 2013 . Noronen, Mika.
  6. Web site: Sub-4 Register in Date Sequence . Sparks, Bob . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091010140955/http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~rsparks/sub4-dat.htm . 2009-10-10 .