Gaston, Baron Roelants (born 5 February 1937), is a Belgian former elite steeplechaser and cross country runner. He won the 1962 European and 1964 Olympic titles in the 3000 m steeplechase and twice broke the world record.
 Gaston Roelants in 1968 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Born | 5 February 1937 Opvelp, Belgium |
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | Steeplechase, marathon |
| Club | DC Leuven |
| Retired | 1976 |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) | 3000 m Steeplechase – 8:26.4 (1965) marathon – 2:16:30 (1974) |
Biography
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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]
References
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- ^ Gaston Roelants Archived 8 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Sports-reference.com. Retrieved on 12 January 2014.
- ^ "Gaston Roelant". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved on 12 January 2014. - ^ World Rankings By Nation — Men’s Steeple Archived 2 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Track and Field News
- ^ Masterstrack Records analysis, 2003.[dead link]
- ^ Gaston Roelants race review Archived 23 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Sport.be. 20 December 2009.
- ^ Sport. Brussels 10K Gaston Roelants. Brussels.be. Retrieved on 12 January 2014.