Frank Baumgartl (29 May 1955 – 26 August 2010) was an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete, who specialised in the

3000 meters steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the ...

. He was born in

Bad Schlema Bad Schlema () is a community in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony in Germany. It was merged into the new town Aue-Bad Schlema in January 2019. It belongs to the Silberberg Town League (''Städtebund Silberberg''). The Silver Road (''Si ...

. At the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Frank Baumgartl won the Olympic

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in a new personal best time of 8:10.36 minutes. Approaching the last obstacle, he was just behind Anders Gärderud of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, who was in the lead. Baumgartl seemed even about to pass Gärderud. However, as Baumgartl was about to challenge Gärderud for the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

, he misjudged the steeple barrier and fell. Baumgartl was then passed by

Bronisław Malinowski Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (; 7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology. ...

from Poland, a veteran steeplechaser, who took the

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

(Malinowski also won the gold in Moscow 1980 Olympic steeplechase) medal. Baumgartl recovered, and took the bronze medal. Baumgartl's time remained his career best, and places him third on the German all-time performers list behind

Damian Kallabis Damian Kallabis (born 10 June 1973 in Gliwice, Poland) is a retired German runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. In 1997 his personal best time was 8:37.35 minutes. The next year he sensationally won the European Championships ...

and Hagen Melzer. Baumgartl never became East German champion. He competed for the sports club

SC Karl-Marx-Stadt SC Karl-Marx-Stadt was a sports club located at Karl-Marx-Stadt in the German Democratic Republic. Established in 1945, the sports club went through a variation of name changes until 1 July 1963, settling with SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which lasted unt ...

during his active career. He died in

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

, Italy, on 26 August 2010 during a cycling tour from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

References

1955 births 2010 deaths People from Schneeberg, Saxony Athletes from Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt East German male long-distance runners East German male steeplechase runners Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) East German Athletics Championships winners SC Karl-Marx-Stadt athletes {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub