Rudolf Harbig

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Olympic medal record
Men's Athletics
Bronze	1936 Berlin	4x400 m Relay

Rudolf ("Rudi") Harbig (November 8, 1913 – March 5, 1944) was a German middle distance runner best known for the 800 metres world record that he set in Milan in 1939.

[edit] Life

Harbig was born in Dresden.He started running in 1934 and was a member of the bronze-medal-winning German 4x400 m relay team at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Two years later he defeated his long-time rival Mario Lanzi from Italy at the 1938 European Championships in Athletics in Paris over 800 m in a time of 1:50.6 min. At the same championships he won the gold medal with the German 4x400 m relay.

In the same summer the British runner Sydney Wooderson set a remarkable new world record over 800 m at 1:48.4 min. When, in 1939, Harbig set a new national record of 1:49.4 he knew that the world record was not an unrealistic prospect. However, in the same season Mario Lanzi ran a time of 1:49.5 in Pisa. The two rivals met in Milan in July for a much-celebrated race over 800 m on a 500 m-track. In his usual manner Lanzi took the lead and was still in front in the final bend. However, at the start of the 125 m-home-straight Harbig overtook him with an astonishing sprint. He finished with a new world record of 1:46.6 min. Lanzi, behind him, set a new Italian record of 1:49.0. In the following years Harbig's time turned out to be a very hard record to break. Even track legends Arthur Wint and Mal Whitfield could not threaten it. Finally, in August 1955 the Belgian runner Roger Moens set a new world record of 1:45.7.

Also, in 1939 Harbig set a world record over 400 m on a 500 m-track in Frankfurt in 46.0 sec. In Dresden in 1941 he set a world record over 1000 m in 2:21.5. In the Second World War Harbig was sent to the Eastern Front and died in the Ukraine in 1944. A stadium was named after him.