Arne Andersson
Swedish middle-distance runner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arne Andersson (27 October 1917 – 1 April 2009) was a Swedish middle-distance runner who became famous for his rivalry with his compatriot Gunder Hägg in the 1940s. Andersson set a 1500 metres world record in Gothenburg in August 1943 with a time of 3:45.0 minutes. He was born in Trollhättan, Sweden.
Arne Andersson in action | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 October 1917 Trollhättan, Sweden |
| Died | 1 April 2009 (aged 91)[1] Vänersborg, Sweden[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | 800–5000 m |
| Club | Uddevalla IS Elfsborg Örgryte IS SoIK Hellas[2] |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | 800 m – 1:50.8 (1942) 1500 m – 3:44.0 (1944) Mile – 4:01.6 (1944) 5000 m – 14:18.2 (1941)[3] |
Andersson set three world records in the mile: the first in Stockholm in July 1942 (4:06.2); this record was broken in the same year by Hägg (4:04.6). Andersson recaptured the world record in Gothenburg in July 1943 (4:02.6), and improved it further in Malmö in July 1944 (4:01.6). However, Hägg had the last word when he ran (4:01.4) in Malmö in 1945 (Hägg's record was not broken until Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 mile in Oxford in 1954). Andersson won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1943.[4][2]
Andersson won seven national titles: two individual (1500 m, 1943–44) and five in relays (1940–42).[2] In 1946 he was disqualified for violating amateur rules, together with Gunder Hägg and Henry Jonsson.[5]
