Anders Gärderud

Anders Gärderud

Gärderud (right) behind Harald Norpoth, Karl-Uno Olofsson and Bodo Tümmler in 1964
Personal information
Full name	Sven Anders Gärderud
Nationality	Swedish
Born	28 August 1946 (1946-08-28) (age 70) Degerfors, Sweden
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	70 kg (150 lb)
Sport
Country	Sweden
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	1500 m
Club	KA2 IF, Karlskrona; Enebybergs IF; Mälarhöjdens IK, Stockholm
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	800 m – 1:47.2 (1968) 1500 m – 3:36.73 (1974) 5000 m – 13:17.59 (1976) 3000 mS – 8:08.02 (1976)[1][2]
Medal record Representing  Sweden Olympic Games 1976 Montreal 3000 m steeplechase European Championships 1974 Rome 3000 m steeplechase

Sven Anders Gärderud (born 28 August 1946) is a Swedish former track and field athlete, winner of the 3000 m steeplechase event at the 1976 Summer Olympics.^[1][3][4]

Gärderud experimented with several events before rising to athletic greatness in the 3000 m steeplechase.^[1] His first major competition were the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the heats of 800 m and 1500 m. In the following years, Gärderud concentrated only to the 3000 m steeplechase, and was already a main favourite at the 1972 Summer Olympics, but, suffering from a cold, he was eliminated in his heat. Gärderud was also eliminated in the heats of the 5000 m at the Olympics,^[1] but only seven days later, he set a new 3000 m steeplechase world record of 8:20.8.

At the 1974 European Championships, Gärderud was narrowly beaten by Bronisław Malinowski of Poland,^[5] but managed to break the 3000 m steeplechase world record twice in 1975. At first he ran 8:10.4 and only six days later 8:09.8 minutes.^[6]

The culmination of Gärderud's career was at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where after a stirring contest with Malinowski and Frank Baumgartl, Gärderud won the gold medal in a new world record of 8:08.02.^[1] His stirring victory in that event would earn him a share of the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal with cyclist Bernt Johansson.

Gärderud was born to an orienteering competitor, and was an accomplished orienteer himself, winning the team event at the 1977 Swedish Championships. He initially trained in orienteering and changed to athletics by chance – he was banned from running in the woods in autumn 1961 due to a jaundice epidemic and wondered into an athletic hall.^[3]

After retiring from competitions Gärderud worked as a TV commentator of athletics events and as the head coach of the Swedish women’s athletics team.^[1][3][4]

References