Frank Baumgartl (29 May 1955 – 26 August 2010) was an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete, who specialised in the

3000 meters steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the h ...

. He was born in

Bad Schlema Bad Schlema is a community in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony in Germany. It was merged into the new town Aue-Bad Schlema in January 2019. It belongs to the Silberberg Town League (''Städtebund Silberberg''). The Silver Road (''Silbers ...

. At the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Frank Baumgartl won the Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in a new personal best time of 8:10.36 minutes. Approaching the last obstacle, he was just behind Anders Gärderud of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, who was in the lead. Baumgartl seemed even about to pass Gärderud. However, as Baumgartl was about to challenge Gärderud for the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

, he misjudged the steeple barrier and fell. Baumgartl was then passed by

Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropol ...

from Poland, a veteran steeplechaser, who took the

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

(Malinowski also won the gold in Moscow 1980 Olympic steeplechase) medal. Baumgartl recovered, and took the bronze medal. Baumgartl's time remained his career best, and places him third on the German all-time performers list behind

Damian Kallabis Damian Kallabis (born 10 June 1973 in Gliwice, Poland) is a retired German runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In 1997 his personal best time was 8:37.35 minutes. The next year he sensationally won the European Championships ...

and

Hagen Melzer Hagen Melzer (born 16 June 1959, in Bautzen) is a former East German middle and long-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 m steeplechase. He won the gold medal at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart. A year later he won t ...

. Baumgartl never became East German champion. He competed for the sports club

SC Karl-Marx-Stadt SC Karl-Marx-Stadt was a sports club located at Karl-Marx-Stadt in the German Democratic Republic. Established in 1945, the sports club went through a variation of name changes until 1 July 1963, settling with SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which lasted unt ...

during his active career. He died in

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

, Italy, on 26 August 2010 during a cycling tour from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

References

1955 births 2010 deaths People from Schneeberg, Saxony People from Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt East German male long-distance runners East German male steeplechase runners Athletes from Saxony Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub