Franz Stampfl
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Franz Ferdinand Leopold Stampfl MBE (born
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
18 November 1913 – died 19 March 1995
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
) was one of the world's leading athletics coaches in the twentieth century. He pioneered a scientific system of
Interval Training Interval training is a type of training exercise that involves a series of high-intensity workouts interspersed with rest or break periods. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods invol ...
which became very popular with sprint and middle distance athletes. His most striking success was the world's first sub-four minute mile by
Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub- 4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres and ...
in 1954. Stampfl was posthumously awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque as a "legendary and pioneering coach" on 26 September 2019.


Early life

Stampfl was born in the capital of then
Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
. His father, Josef Stampfl ran a small company manufacturing surgical instruments. His mother's maiden name was Karoline Katharina Yusupov. She was supposed to be the illegitimate child of a member of the
House of Yusupov The House of Yusupov () was a Russian Empire, Russian Knyaz, princely family descended from the monarchs of the Nogai Horde, renowned for their immense wealth, philanthropy and art collections in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most notably, Prince ...
, but this could never be proven. He studied writing and painting in school. After high school, he attended the Vienna
Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...
and had some success as a
skier Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International ...
and
javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...
er. In 1937 sensing the rise of Adolf Hitler and having been banned after refusing to obey instructions from Austrian Olympic officials, he left Austria for England to study at the
Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, produ ...
. When Hitler marched into Austria in 1938, the British government demanded that he leave the country unless he showed a unique and necessary skill. Having taught skiing back in his homeland, Stampfl pitched AAA officials to coach their athletes, earning him a job in Northern Ireland. This was in part due to assistance by Olympic athlete
Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Early life and educati ...
.


Second World War: internment and shipment to Australia

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Stampfl taught physical education at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Barnet (then holders of the Public Schools Challenge Cup for athletics) from February to June 1940, when he was suddenly interned as an enemy alien. He was transported to Canada and then Australia. He went on hunger strike to protest at his confinement.


Attack on the ''Arandora Star''

Early one July morning in 1940, Stampfl was on his way to Canada on the liner ship with a host of other prisoners of war. In the middle of the North Sea, a German U-boat torpedoed the ship; and within thirty minutes amid screams of fear, the ship was flooded with water and sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic. To survive, Stampfl forced a steel plate aside to get to the surface and then jumped into the freezing cold, oil-slicked sea. For eight hours he swam, warding off shock from the cold and struggling to keep his head above the water, before a rescue boat sighted him. The Headmaster of Queen Elizabeth's, Ernest Jenkins, later observed that, under the relevant order, even friendly Germans and Austrians were arrested. He gave the date of Stampfl's detention as 2 July 1940, but, as this was the day that the ''Arandora Star'' was attacked, it was probably slightly earlier. The decision to arrest aliens was taken on 18 June 1940. Stampfl was one of 868 survivors when the ''Arandora Star'', carrying 1,190 deportees, was torpedoed ''en route'' to Canada. Among those who lost their lives were the former Italian head chefs of London's
Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
and Ritz Hotels. Hundreds died in the disaster, but those who survived were shipped back to Britain, interned and shipped once again to Australia on the . There, Stampfl was sent to internment camps in Hay and Tatura, where he stayed from 7 September 1940 to 28 January 1942.Maier, Andreas (2022), Franz Stampfl: Genius Coach and Citizen of the World. A Biography. ASIN: B09Z7C8FNZ To ease the desperation plaguing the prisoners he organised athletics, boxing, wrestling and football matches. 'It was not just a job for me,' he said. 'It was an inner desire to survive and remain sane for myself and my friends in camp.' From 8 April 1942 to 15 January 1946 he served in the 8th Australian Employment Company of the Australian Army.


Post-war

After the war has ended, Stampfl decided to return to Britain to continue athletics coaching in 1946. Although he suffered terribly over the previous years and had trouble sleeping under linen or far from an open window because of his long confinement, he still admired the English for their love of amateur sport, and felt their athletes could use his help. He reconnected with amateur officials and arranged for a coaching post in Northern Ireland from 1946 to 1951. In 1947 he married Patricia, née Cussen, an Australian whom he had met in Melbourne, at a ceremony in Belfast. They moved to London in 1951 where he worked as a sales assistant at the sports wear company Lillywhites. He established a training base at the Duke of York's Barracks and had part-time coaching posts at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. Still he was not asked to aid the British Olympic team in 1952 – evidence that amateur officials never brought him fully into their fold because he was an outsider. In 1952 the John Fisher School (Purley) won the Public Schools Challenge Cup for athletics, held at the White City Stadium. Smaller than most of the 203 top schools that entered the competition that year, John Fisher's victory caused controversy. Previously, schools entered only a limited number of individual athletes and therefore scored few points. However, thanks to the determination of Fr. McLean and the school's athletics coach, Herr Franz Stampfl, John Fisher entered a full athletics squad who outscored every school, across the full range of track and field disciplines, to win the trophy by the widest ever winning margin. There was much debate about the ethics of one school 'sweeping the board' in such a manner. In 1953 the feat was repeated, this time by an even greater winning margin – and again the opposition cried "foul". The following year the championship took place and yet again John Fisher boys out-performed the opposition. However, the organisers decided to withdraw the Challenge Cup and only reward individual performances. The school was therefore denied a hat-trick of wins. Franz Stampfl, who worked at John Fisher school as athletics coach from 1950 to 1955, emigrated to Australia, training the Australian Squad in preparation for the Melbourne Olympic Games. Of particular note is that he coached Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to break the four-minute mile in May 1954. Franz Stampfl gained a reputation as one of the world's leading athletics coaches and, under his guidance, for a few years in the early 1950s John Fisher School was to dominate schoolboy athletics.


The Four-Minute Mile

Stampfl's coaching assisted
Roger Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister (23 March 1929 – 3 March 2018) was an English neurologist and middle-distance athlete who ran the first sub- 4-minute mile. At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres and ...
to the world's first sub four-minute mile at
Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
on 6 May 1954. Chris Chataway and
Chris Brasher Christopher William Brasher CBE (21 August 1928 – 28 February 2003) was a British track and field athlete, Olympic champion, sports journalist and co-founder of the London Marathon. Early life and education Born in Georgetown, British Gui ...
, who played key roles in pacing Bannister to the record, were also coached by Stampfl and his methods were adopted by, among others, the tennis player Ashley Cooper and the boxer
Don Cockell Donald John Cockell (22 September 1928 – 18 July 1983) was an English boxer who competed from 1946 to 1956. One of the most well known boxers from the UK during the era, Cockell held the British and European light heavyweight titles, and ...
who took
Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955. He held the world heavyweight championship from 1952 to 1956, and re ...
to nine rounds in their
heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
title fight in 1955.''Times'' obituary, March 1995 A humble man, the Austrian coach had ignored the hype after Bannister's Iffley Road triumph, preferring to slip away quietly and get back to London to train other athletes. He didn't need to stand around and have his picture taken by Bannister's side nor claim that the four-minute mile had been achieved through strict adherence to his coaching. The only satisfaction Stampfl got from the publicity was the knowledge that it would encourage more athletes to train with him. Stampfl's book, ''Franz Stampfl on Running'', first published in 1955, was a great success and rated by ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' as an "admirable and enthralling text-book on training and tactics".


Australian Successes

In 1955, Stampfl was invited to Australia to become director of athletics at
Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...
and he settled in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
until his death. At the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Stampfl coached 11 of the athletes in the Australian team. He trained many successful Australian athletes during his lifetime; most notably: *
Ralph Doubell Ralph Douglas Doubell AM (born 11 February 1945) is an Australian former athlete, and gold medallist at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Athletic career Doubell was born in Melbourne, was educated at Melbourne High School and graduated from the Univ ...
1968 Olympic Gold Medal
800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...
– World Record *
Gael Martin Gael Patricia Mulhall-Martin (born 27 August 1956) is a former Australian athlete who competed in the shot put and in the discus throw at the Olympic level and also had a career in powerlifting. Athletics Born in Melbourne, Mulhall-Martin is ...
1984 Olympic Bronze Medal
shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...
Other Stampfl athletes included Olympic finalists Tony Sneazwell, Alan Crawley and Merv Lincoln, in addition to
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
champions Peter Bourke,
Sue Howland Sue Howland (born 4 September 1960) is an Australian javelin thrower whose best result was a gold medal at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Howland won the Australian Junior (under 20) Javelin throw in 1977 and 1978. Her international career began ...
and Judy Peckham.


Interval Training

Stampfl was a great proponent of the interval style of training where athletes run high-intensity distance trials followed by short recovery periods. An example could be 12 repetitions of 400 metres with a 200-metre jog between each. Stampfl had a great rivalry with
Percy Cerutty Percy Wells Cerutty (10 January 189514 August 1975) was an Australian athletics coach in the 1950s and 1960s. The eccentric Australian pioneered a home-spun system of "Stotan" training, embracing a holistic regime of natural diets, hard traini ...
who coached the
middle-distance running Middle-distance running events are Track and field#Running, track races longer than Sprint (running), sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres m ...
champion
Herb Elliott Herbert James Elliott (born 25 February 1938) is a former Australian athlete and arguably the world's greatest middle-distance runner of his era. In August 1958 he set the world record in the mile run, clocking 3:54.5, 2.7 seconds under the r ...
. Stampfl's coaching was regarded as 'scientific' whereas Cerutty's techniques were considered more 'natural', based on 'Stotan' (a mixture of
Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed i ...
and
Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...
n) philosophies. As such, they – and their athletes – were seen as obvious rivals.


Quadriplegia

Stampfl was involved in a car accident in 1980, his vehicle being hit while stationary at a traffic light, and was left a
quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of Motor control, motor and/or Sense, sensory function in the Cervical vertebrae, cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weak ...
. Despite this, he continued to coach. In the
1981 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1981 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...
, he was appointed a
Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) for services to athletics.Australia list:


Quotes

* "The possibilities in racing tactics are almost unlimited, as in a game of chess; for every move there is a counter, for every attack there is a defence... The runner's greatest asset, apart from essential fitness of body, is a cool and calculating brain allied to confidence and courage. Above all, he must have a will to win". * "Running is an art, and every runner must be thought of as an artist." * "If you forego this chance, would you ever forgive yourself?" - Franz Stampfl to Roger Bannister hours before the first sub-four minute mile. * "My ideal athlete would have the mind of a poet. He would be a man with rich imagination, capable of feeling physical, mental and spiritual emotions intensely." * "He must be a fanatic for hard work and enthusiastic enough to enjoy it. He must be ready to go beyond the point at which he feels he is going to die."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stampfl, Franz 1913 births 1995 deaths English athletics coaches Olympic coaches for Australia Australian athletics coaches People who emigrated to escape Nazism Sportspeople from Vienna People interned during World War II Austrian emigrants to Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Prisoners and detainees of Australia Foreign nationals imprisoned in Australia Prisoners and detainees of Canada Foreign nationals imprisoned in the United Kingdom Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Teachers at Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet