Kenneth Lloyd Swenson (born April 18, 1948 in

Clay Center, Kansas Clay Center is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,199. History Clay Center was first settled in 1862. It was named from its position near the geographic ...

) is a retired

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Swenson was the world leader at

800 meters The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

in 1970 and competed in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Career

As a senior at Kansas State University, Swenson won the 880 yards in 1:46.3 at the 1970 NCAA outdoor championships. He also won at that year's

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

( AAU) championships, narrowly defeating Mark Winzenried as both were timed in 1:47.4. Swenson set his personal best for

, 1:44.8, on July 16, 1970 in Stuttgart in a dual meet between the United States and

West Germany 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 ...

; the time was the fastest in the world that year and a new American record for the metric distance. ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running ...

'' ranked Swenson the world's second-best half-miler that year, behind Yevgeniy Arzhanov of the Soviet Union. In 1971 Swenson only placed third in the AAU outdoor meet (behind Juris Luzins and Jamaica's

Byron Dyce Byron Dyce (born 27 March 1948) is a Jamaican former middle-distance runner who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics and in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He is still the current Jamaican National Record holder in the Mile and 1000 metres. He still ...

); however, he won gold at the Pan American Games in Cali, running 1:48.08. At the 1972 Olympic Trials Swenson ran 1:45.1, his best time since 1970; he lost to

Dave Wottle David James Wottle (born August 7, 1950) is an American retired middle-distance track athlete. He was the gold medalist in the 800 meter run at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich and a world record holder in the 800 meters. In 1973, Wottle also ...

(who equaled the world record of 1:44.3) and

Rick Wohlhuter Rick Wohlhuter (born December 23, 1948) is a retired American middle-distance runner. Wohlhuter won the national indoor championship in the 600 yards in 1970. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1971, and later qualified for the 1 ...

, but took the third and final Olympic qualifying spot ahead of early leader

Jim Ryun James Ronald Ryun (born April 29, 1947) is an American former Republican politician and Olympic track and field athlete, who at his peak was widely considered the world's top middle-distance runner. He won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the ...

. At the Olympics in

Swenson qualified from his heat, but was disqualified in the semi-finals. Swenson continued his career for several more years; in March 1975 he joined the

International Track Association The International Track Association (ITA) was a professional track and field organization that existed in the United States from 1972 to 1976. The ITA initially attracted many of the big track and field stars of the day to run in its meets and in ...

(ITA), a professional circuit. Swenson set his personal best for the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

, 3:59.1, in an ITA meet on May 3, 1975; he was the 75th American to run a

four-minute mile A four-minute mile is the completion of a mile run (1609 m) in four minutes or less. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister, at age 25, in 3:59.4. As of April 2021, the "four-minute barrier" has been broken by 1,663 athletes, and is n ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swenson, Ken 1948 births Living people People from Clay Center, Kansas Track and field athletes from Kansas American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Kansas State Wildcats men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)