Bertil von Wachenfeldt

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Johan Bertil Karl von Wachenfeldt (born March 4, 1909 in Ovansjö , Sandviken municipality , † September 30, 1995 in Gothenburg ) was a Swedish athlete and Olympic participant. At the European Championships in 1934 he won the bronze medal in the 400-meter run .

At the age of 19, Wachenfeldt took part in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam as the second runner in the Swedish 4 x 400 meter relay , which took fourth place in the Olympic final.

Wachenfeldt completed his biggest competition in 1934 in the international match against Germany. He had lost to Adolf Metzner in the 400-meter run , but the two teams were so close together before the final relay race that winning the relay should also mean winning the international match. As the final runner of the Swedish relay, Wachenfeldt was able to fight Metzner down; he won the race and the international competition for Sweden. The European Championships took place in Turin a week after the international match . In the 400 meter run, Metzner won ahead of Frenchman Pierre Skawinski and Wachenfeldt, who ran the Swedish national record with 48.0 seconds. Also in the relay decision of the European Championships, the Germans won ahead of the French and the Swedes.

At the Olympic Games in 1936 , Wachenfeldt was eliminated in the quarter-finals over 400 meters. With the relay he reached the final, where the qualification succeeded against the French; in the finals, the team finished fifth behind the British, Americans, Germans and Canadians. In 1937 Wachenfeldt managed the fastest 400-meter race of his career when he improved the Swedish record to 47.8 seconds. In 1938 he reached the final again at the European Championships in Paris, but only finished sixth and last. In the relay, Wachenfeldt was able to overtake the French Prudent Joye as the final runner and secure his team the bronze medal behind the Germans and the British.

Despite his long career, Bertil von Wachenfeldt was only twice Swedish champion: in 1935 and 1938. With a height of 1.88 meters, he had a competition weight of 77 kilograms.

literature

  • Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 1996 . Surbiton 1996 ISBN 1-899807-01-2
  • Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics . Berlin 1999, published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wachenfeldt, Bertil von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wachenfeldt, Johan Bertil Karl von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish athlete
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Ovansjö , Sandviken municipality
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1995
Place of death Gothenburg