Robert LeGendre

Robert LeGendre, 1919

Robert Lucien LeGendre (born January 7, 1898 in Lewiston , Maine , † January 21, 1931 in New York ) was an American athlete . He was the son of French immigrants.

At the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, LeGendre was fourth in the pentathlon with 26 points. The points were awarded according to the placement in the individual disciplines. In terms of placement points, LeGendre was tied with third-placed Finn Hugo Lahtinen . In the event of a tie, the points according to the decathlon table were used, which is why Lahtinen received the bronze medal.

Four years later, at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, the pentathlon was played on July 7th. Robert LeGendre jumped a world record in the first discipline, the long jump with 7.765 meters. In terms of placement points, he did lead to this discipline, but in the two throwing disciplines javelin and discus he lost his lead again. In the end, the 1920 Olympic champion Eero Lehtonen won with 14 points, ahead of the Hungarian Elemér Somfay with 16 points and Robert LeGendre with 18 points. LeGendre did not qualify for the long jump; LeGendre's compatriot DeHart Hubbard won here with 7.445 meters.

LeGendre had missed a medal in 1920 because his individual performances according to the decathlon table were weaker than that of his competitor. If the decathlon table had been used in 1924, LeGendre would have won the pentathlon because of his record distance.

Robert LeGendre was not haunted by luck in the rest of his life either. After completing his studies in dentistry, he began an acting career, which he had to break off for health reasons. LeGendre died of tuberculosis at the age of 33 .

swell

• Manfred Holzhausen: world records and world record holder. Grevenbroich 1999
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics. German Society for Athletics Documentation eV, Neuss 1999.

Web links

• Robert LeGendre in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )