Gunder Haegg - The Unfulfilled Dream, Part 2

Some of the greatest athletes of the world have tried in vain to win an Olympic gold medal. We portray them in this series.

Gunder Haegg was a victim of his time and circumstances. When the Swedish long distance runner was at the height of his career, World War II prevented him from becoming an Olympic champion in 1940 and 1944. In 1948, he was denied the chance to compete in the 1948 London Games because he had been stripped of his amateur status two years before. Allegedly, Haegg had been running once for 400 Swedish crowns (picture: aftonbladet.se).

Haegg could have been a second Paavo Nurmi. The Swede, born in Albacken on the last day of 1918, and the "Flying Finn" were the only two men to hold every single world record from 1500 to 5000 meters at the same time. Haegg also was the first men to run the 5000 meters in less than 14 minutes. His personal best, marked on September 10th, 1942, stood for twelve years. The summer of 1942 was the crown jewel of Haegg's feats, when he clocked ten world records within 82 days. Overall, he smashed 16 world records - but never ran in a single Olympic race.

Directed by his coach Goesta Olander in the training camp of Valdalen, deep in the woods of northern Sweden, Haegg started to use a form of interval training as one of the first long distance runners. He paved the way for the methods later taken to perfection by the likes of Vladimir Kuts and Emil Zatopek, who finally broke his 5000 meters records.

Because of the war, only few footage of Haegg's races has survived. Here are some impressions from his tour through the United States in 1943:

After his athletics career, Haegg lived as unconventional and extraordinary as his running had been. He sold books about his races, was a fire fighter, forest worker, salesman. And he always remained an icon for his country. Sports historian Julin called Haegg "a national symbol for a small country standing at the abyss of war".

Haegg passed away on November 27th, 2004, near Malmoe. But there is one thing he accomplished that even Nurmi did not get: A Swedish band named herself after Gunder Haegg (until they had to switch their name following legal persecution) and dedicated a song to him in 1970. A song about nature, wolves, idealism and "lousy capitalism". Haegg will sure ly have liked this one (picture: racingpast.ca).

The Best of Summer - 5th Place: Helsinki 1952

Let's start our Top Five countdown of the best Summer Games with the 1952 edition staged in Helsinki. The Olympics in Finland probably were the most peaceful ever - which sounds ironic, as they were also the first Games of the Cold War era.

Surely, the Soviet Union made a big splash in their first Olympic appearance, winning 71 medals, second only to the United States' 76. Surely, they made a political statement by living in an own Olympic village in Otaniemi, reserved for Eastern Bloc athletes. But these were not the Games of political struggles as they came to be from the 1960s to 1980s. Seven years after the end of World War II, these Games in this small, sport loving country in the north of Europe came close to the ideals of the Olympic founding fathers. They were purely about the athletes and the competitions.

And what athletes there were on stage! After retired Finish runner Paavo Nurmi had lit the Olympic flame, Emil Zatopek (picutre: www.sportschau.de) followed in his footsteps, winning the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters and the marathon. His wife Dana took home the javelin gold at the same hour. Luxemburg's Josy Barthel gained his country's only gold medal ever wenning the 1,500 meters. Australia's Marjorie Jackson ("The Lithgow Flash") won both gold medals in the women's sprint. The gymnasts of the Soviet Union led by Viktor Choukarine were dominating, but Japan (while re-emerging on the Olympic scene) made a big impression - a precursor of a duel for decades to come.

Together with the Japanese, the Germans re-entered the Olympic arena (at least, from the West). They didn't win a gold medal, but it was German law student Barbara Rotraut Pleyer who made headlines during the opening ceremony. In a flowing white dress, the 23 year old ran through the stadium and captured the podium for a spontaneous peace adress. But she could only say the words "Ladies and gentlemen" before she was gently taken out of the arena (picture: www.sportschau.de)

This Finish documentary gives a good impression of the spirit of these Games. Don't care about the commentary, just let the pictures speak for themselves. This film includes some very rare colour footage of the 1952 Games and interview sections with second-time decathlon gold medalist and politcian-to-be, Bob Mathias.

It was a time when amateurism still had a meaning in the Olympic world, and the socialist state sponsored pseudo-amateur was just looming on the horizon as a vague shadow. This can also be seen by this rather unpretentious documentary produced by the U.S Army Signal Corps Pictoral Service as part of the series "The Big Picture":

When FBI officer Horace Ashenfelter defeated KGB agent Vladimir Kazantsev in the 3,000 meters steeplechase, it was nothing more than an interesting footnote in the news - still far away from "war on the track" talk.

A German offical called the Helsinki Games "the Olympics of the poor man and the wealthy hearts". This may sound awkwardly cosy and corny today, but in 1952, most observers will probably have agreed.