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Alvin Christian Kraenzlein (December 12, 1876 – January 6, 1928) was an American athlete. He was the first sportsman to win four Olympic titles in a single Olympic Games. As of 2004, he is still the only track and field athlete to have done so in individual events only.
Kraenzlein was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, son of John Kraenzlein and Augusta, and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later the University of Pennsylvania, studying to become a dentist. He won his first athletics title in 1897, when he won the 220 yards hurdles race at the Amateur Athletic Union championships. The next few years he gained many more titles, winning 5 AAU titles in both hurdling and long jump events, and 8 Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America titles in sprinting, hurdling and the long jump. Kraenzlein was especially noted for his hurdling technique, as he was the first to practice the now common method of straight-lead-leg (the first leg over the hurdle remains straight and parallel with the ground). This technique is significant in that it enables the athlete to over-come the hurdle without reducing speed.
In 1900, Kraenzlein prepared for the Olympics in England, winning the British title in the 120 yards hurdles and the long jump before entering the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. There, he won four titles: the 60 metres, the 110 metres hurdles, the 200 metres hurdles and the long jump. In the 60 metres, he ran both the preliminary and final in 7.0 seconds, defeating John Tewksbury by bare inches in the final.
His victory in the long jump was remarkable, as he beat silver medallist Meyer Prinstein only by a single centimeter. Prinstein's mark had been set in the qualification, and he did not attend the final, because it was held on a Sunday. The two had had an informal agreement not to compete on Sunday, and when Prinstein learned that Kraenzlein had competed he became violent, punching Kraenzlein according to some accounts (others claim that Prinstein was restrained before he could land the punch).
Kraenzlein retired from athletic competition in late 1900, as the owner of 6 world records. He had completed a degree in dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1902, having returned to Philadelphia, he went on to be a dentist and manager of the Milwaukee Athletic Association. He also married Claudine Gilman. In 1906 he became the track-and-field coach at Mercersburg Academy, and in 1910 he also became the professor of physical training. Amongst his students was Ralph Craig who would become a future olympian title holder. 1913, he signed a $50,000 deal to prepare the 1916 German olympic team (this, however, was canceled due to the outbreak of WWI). With WWI coming, Kraenzlein served the U.S. army as a physical training specialist. When the war ended, he became coach of the University of Pennsylvania team until late 1927 when he was afflicted with pleurisy and died early 1928 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
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