Fred Hansen (athlete)

Frederick "Fred" Hansen (born December 29, 1940 in Cuero , Texas ) is an American track and field athlete of Danish descent who was successful as a pole vaulter in the first half of the 1960s. He jumped a world record and won Olympic gold.

Career

In 1963 he achieved his best performance of 4.90 m and was clearly behind his two compatriots John Pennel and Brian Sternberg . At the beginning of the Olympic year 1964, however, he experienced an increase in performance. After setting the world record held by John Pennel with a jump over 5.20 m, he was able to beat this record twice in the following weeks. He finished the American-Soviet country comparison held in Los Angeles in July 1964 as a world record holder with 5.28 m and also won the Olympic qualification on September 12th. However, he won the gold medal in Tokyo only after a nine-hour fight, which came to a head in the evening hours of October 17, when the German Wolfgang Reinhardt was the only jumper to master 5.05 m, Hansen skipped this height and then over 5.10 m had two failed attempts before he succeeded in the third attempt to bring the Olympic victory in the pole vault to the USA for the 16th time since 1896 - a series that was not broken until 1972 by the GDR athlete Wolfgang Nordwig .

After winning the Olympic Games, Fred Hansen ended his sporting career to devote himself to studying dentistry. He now lives in Houston , Texas .

World records

5.20 m on June 5, 1964 in Houston (setting of the world record by John Pennel )
5,23 m on June 13, 1964 in San Diego
5,28 m on July 25, 1964 in Los Angeles ( improved to 5,32 m in 1966 by Bob Seagren )