Étienne Gailly

Étienne Gailly (born November 26, 1922 in Beringen , † November 3, 1971 in Genval , Belgium ) was a Belgian athlete who was a successful marathon runner from the late 1940s to 1950 . He achieved fame in the marathon of the 1948 Olympic Games in London : He was the first to reach the stadium, but was overtaken by two pursuers shortly before the finish, so that he won the bronze medal.

Life

Second World War

Étienne Gailly became a paratrooper in Great Britain in 1944 and began running alongside training. He took part in the liberation of Belgium in World War II . After the war, he made rapid progress in his sport.

Olympic Games 1948

In the Olympic marathon on August 7, 1948, he was unexpectedly in the lead halfway through the race, which he held until kilometer 32. There he was first overtaken by several runners. He later went back to the top and was the first competitor to enter Wembley . From the intermediate sprint he was so weakened that he reached the stadium completely exhausted and could only walk at a slow pace.

On the last lap to be run, the Argentine Delfo Cabrera first overtook him , then the Briton Tom Richards also passed him. Étienne Gailly reached the finish line with great difficulty and then collapsed. He was so exhausted that he could not accept the bronze medal at the award ceremony. The audience had watched the dramatic finale with bated breath, and the applause only broke out when Gailly was on target.

In the end, Étienne Gailly was about half a minute behind the second:

1. Delfo Cabrera: 2: 34: 51.6 h
2. Tom Richards: 2: 35: 07.6 h
3. Étienne Gailly: 2: 35: 33.6 h

The process happened almost exactly 40 years after a similar one at the same place: At the Olympic Games in 1908 , the Italian Dorando Pietri was also the first to run into the stadium in complete exhaustion. He could only reach the goal with the help of judges, which is why his victory was denied.

End of career

At the European Championships in Brussels in 1950 , Étienne Gailly was eighth among the leading runners again (2:38:24 h, winner: Jack Holden , 2:32:13 h).

Professionally active as a paratrooper officer, he then took part in the Korean War. There he came across a mine in November 1951, the explosion of which shattered several bones in his left foot. The foot remained paralyzed and Étienne Gailly never competed again.

In 1971, Étienne Gailly died in a traffic accident at the age of 48.

Literature on Etienne Gailly

• Bert Beyer: The Wembley marathon drama. A sports novel from our time ; Illustrations by Gerhard Willmanowski; Sportverlag, Berlin (GDR), 1955, 243 pages
• Thomas Brasch: Etienne Gailly (poem, 1971), in: They call it scream! , Collected poems, Frankfurt a. M. 2013.

Web links

• Biography on belgraveharriers.com (Étienne Gaillys Sportklub )
• Étienne Gailly in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Results of the European Athletics Championships 1950 on www.hot.ee