Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand (born 11 September 1952 in
Dörrebach) was a
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 ...
athlete who competed mainly in the 5000 metres.
In the 1974 European Athletics Championships, he placed eighth in the 5,000-metre final, about fifteen seconds behind the winner,
Great Britain's Brendan Foster.
He competed for West Germany in 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 P ...
held in
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...
, Canada in the 5000 metres where he won the bronze medal.
Olympic results
/ref> he had run the second fastest 5,000 metres in the world in 1976, after New Zealand's Dick Quax, who won the silver medal in that closely fought and dramatic race. After running around the middle of the fourteen-man group, Hildenbrand took the lead shortly before 3,400 metres. He kept it until he voluntarily surrendered it to Finland's Lasse Virén at 3,900 metres. On the final back straight, he kicked furiously to draw level with New Zealand's Rodney Dixon at 4,800 metres. At the start of the final bend, he briefly drew level or almost level with Virén. On the second half of the final bend, Quax kicked past him to challenge Virén for the lead. Throughout the home straight, Hildenbrand fought Dixon for the bronze.
In the final metres, he decided to ensure the bronze medal for himself by lunging across the finish line. This helped him defeat Dixon by 0.12 seconds.
References
Further reading
*"The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, published in Finland in 1990
*Antero Raevuori, "Lasse Viren: The Gilded Spikes" / Lasse Viren: Kullatut piikkarit, published in Finland in 1976
*Matti Hannus, "The Montreal Olympic Book" / Montrealin Olympiakirja, published in Finland in 1976
*Mauno Saari, "Lasse Viren: The Secrets of Running" / Lasse Viren: Juoksemisen salaisuudet, published in Finland in 1979
1952 births
Living people
People from Bad Kreuznach (district)
West German male long-distance runners
Olympic bronze medalists for West Germany
Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes of West Germany
Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
Sportspeople from Rhineland-Palatinate
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