Gaston Roelants

Gaston Roelants in 2012
Personal information
Born	(1937-02-05) 5 February 1937 Opvelp, Belgium
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
Sport	Steeplechase, marathon
Club	DC Leuven
Medal record Representing  Belgium Olympic Games Gold 1964 Tokyo 3000 m steeplechase European Championships Gold 1962 Belgrade 3000 m steeplechase Bronze 1966 Budapest 3000 m steeplechase Silver 1969 Athens Marathon Bronze 1974 Rome Marathon

Gaston, Baron Roelants (born 5 February 1937) was a top steeplechaser in the early 1960s and a great cross country runner. In the steeplechase he won the 1962 European and 1964 Olympic titles and set two world records, 8 minutes 29.6 seconds in 1963 and 8 minutes 26.4 seconds in 1965.

Biography

Gaston Roelants in 1967

Roelants finished fourth in the steeplechase at the 1960 Olympics, and after winning a bronze medal at the 1966 European Championships he successfully turned to longer distances, setting world records in the 20 km (58 minutes 6.2 seconds) and in the 1 hour race (20,664 m) that year. In 1972 he improved those records to 57 minutes 44.4 seconds and 20,878 meters. He won a silver (1969) and a bronze (1974) medal in European marathon races.^[1][2] He was ranked the world's best steeplechaser five times, in 1962–1965 and 1967.^[3]

Roelants also won four international cross country titles (1962, 1967, 1969 and 1972) with three second places between 1960 and 1975. His long career continued into his 40s. Later he won five world titles in the masters category and held the masters world record in the steeplechase for 27 years.^[4]

A major Belgian road race is named after Roelants.^[5][6]

References

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Records
Preceded by Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak	Men's 3000 m steeplechase world record holder 7 September 1963 – 17 July 1968	Succeeded by Jouko Kuha