Gunder Hägg (31 December 1918 – 27 November 2004)Gunder Hägg passes away
IAAF (28 November 2004). Retrieved 6 October 2022. was a Swedish runner and multiple

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

breaker of the 1940s. He set over a dozen middle distance world records at events ranging from 1500 to

5000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

, including three at both the 1500 meters and the

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

, one at 3000 meters and one at

. Hägg and fellow Swede, Arne Andersson, lowered the record for the mile to just over four minutes (4:01.4) – accelerating the progression of the world record in the mile run. Both athletes set three world records for the mile. Hägg first set the record in July 1942 at 4:06.2, a time which was equalled by Andersson later the same month. This record was broken by Hägg (4:04.6) in September the same year. Andersson recaptured the world record in July 1943 (4:02.6), and improved it further in July 1944 (4:01.6). However, Hägg then managed a time of 4:01.4 in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

in July 1945. Hägg's record was not broken until Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 mile in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in May 1954. Hägg was also the first man to run a sub-14 minute 5,000 metres, a feat he achieved in September 1942. This record stood for over eleven years. The next world record for the men's 5,000 metres to stand for this long was set in May 2004 by Kenenisa Bekele of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. His record stood for over sixteen years. In 1946, Gunder Hägg was branded a professional because he received payments for running. He was therefore barred from competition, together with Arne Andersson and Henry Jonsson.Henry Jonsson
Swedish Olympic Committee Retrieved 6 October 2022. Four years earlier, he earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagg, Gunder 1918 births 2004 deaths People from Bräcke Municipality World record setters in athletics (track and field) Swedish male middle-distance runners Swedish male steeplechase runners Sportspeople from Jämtland County Gefle IF athletes Malmö AI athletes 20th-century Swedish sportsmen