Gaston Roelants

Gaston, Baron Roelants (born 5 February 1937), 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
Gaston Roelants in 1968
Personal information
NationalityBelgian
Born (1937-02-05) 5 February 1937
Opvelp, Belgium
Height1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
CountryBelgium
SportAthletics
Event(s)Steeplechase, marathon
ClubDC Leuven
Retired1976
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)3000 m Steeplechase – 8:26.4 (1965)
marathon – 2:16:30 (1974)
Medal record
Representing  Belgium
Olympic Games
1964 Tokyo3000 m steeplechase
European Championships
1962 Belgrade3000 m steeplechase
1969 AthensMarathon
1966 Budapest3000 m steeplechase
1974 RomeMarathon

Biography
Gaston Roelants in 1967

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]

A major Belgian road race is named after Roelants.[5][6]

References
  1. Gaston Roelants Archived 8 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Sports-reference.com. Retrieved on 12 January 2014.
  2. "Gaston Roelant". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-05.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link). Sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved on 12 January 2014.
  3. World Rankings By Nation — Men’s Steeple Archived 2 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Track and Field News
  4. Masterstrack Records analysis, 2003.
  5. Gaston Roelants race review Archived 23 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Sport.be. 20 December 2009.
  6. Sport. Brussels 10K Gaston Roelants. Brussels.be. Retrieved on 12 January 2014.
Records
Preceded by
Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak		 Men's 3000 m steeplechase
world record holder
7 September 1963 – 17 July 1968		 Succeeded by
Jouko Kuha
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