Stanislav Jungwirth

Stanislav Jungwirth
Personal information
Nationality Czechoslovakia
Born(1930-08-15)15 August 1930
Prachatice, Czechoslovakia
Died(1986-04-11)11 April 1986
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Medal record
Men's athletics
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1954 Bern 1500 m

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][5] At the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne he finished 6th in 3:42.6.[1][3][5]

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][6] A week later in London, he was the first Czechoslovak to run a four-minute mile;[7] however, his time of 3:59.1 was only good enough for third place[5] while the winner, Derek Ibbotson, ran a new world record 3:57.2.[4][7]

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.[5] 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]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Urbánek, Jaroslav (1 December 2006). "Stanislav Jungwirth". atletickytrenink.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "World Rankings — Men's 1500/Mile" (PDF). Track and Field News. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Stanislav Jungwirth Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d Butler, Mark; IAAF Media & Public Relations Department (2011). IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011. International Association of Athletics Federations.
  5. ^ a b c d Stanislav Jungwirth at Tilastopaja (registration required)
  6. ^ Noronen, Mika. "SUL 100 vuotta - Kolmen Olavin unohtumaton ilta" (in Finnish). Finnish Athletics Association. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  7. ^ a b Sparks, Bob. "Sub-4 Register in Date Sequence". Association of Track and Field Statisticians. Archived from the original on 2009-10-10.
Records
Preceded by Men's 1000 metres World Record Holder
27 October 1952 – 16 August 1953 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Men's 1500 metres World Record Holder
12 July 1957 – 28 August 1958 		Succeeded by