Helmut Janz (April 11, 1934 Gladbeck,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

– November 19, 2000 Neu-Ulm, Germany) was a German

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. He finished fourth behind an American sweep in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

at the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympi ...

. Later in the season he achieved a European record at 49.9. He was the

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

champion at 400 hurdles seven times in a row (1957–1963). In 1963 he was awarded the Rudolf Harbig Memorial Prize. He ranked fourth at the Roma Olympics in 1960, but set a European record with 49.9. He was in the lead as he came down the stretch, but then Glenn Davis, Cliff Cushman, and Dick Howard, three Americans, passed him at the last hurdle, later calling it the most disappointing moment of his life. At the 1962 European Championships, he won a bronze after being disqualified in the second round.

References

1934 births 2000 deaths West German male hurdlers Olympic athletes for the United Team of Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics People from Gladbeck Sportspeople from Münster (region) European Athletics Championships medalists West German Athletics Championships winners {{West Germany-athletics-bio-stub