} Gerardo Bönnhoff Koch (born Gerhard Bönnhoff Koch; 24 June 1926 – 26 December 2013) was a German-born

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

athlete who competed mainly in sprinting. Born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, his family moved to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

when Bönnhoff was 10 years old. In 1947, at the age of 21, he became an Argentine citizen and legally changed his name from Gerhard to Gerardo. He excelled at the 100m and 200m, and in 1945 he became the 100m Junior South American record holder running in a time of 10.3 sec. He competed in the

100 m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

and the

4 × 100 m 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

, at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

but did not get past the 2nd round in any. In 1951 he won the bronze medal at the Pan American Games held in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

in the 4 × 100 m relay. He reached the final of the

in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

and finished sixth. Bönnhoff was a co-founder of the Confederación Argentina de Atletismo, (CADA). He died on 26 December 2013 in

Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar is a planned community, part of the '' partido'' of Tres de Febrero in Greater Buenos Aires and adjacent to the city of El Palomar. It is served by two railway lines, the San Martín Line and the Urquiza Line, whi ...

Competition record

References

1926 births 2013 deaths Athletes from Berlin Argentine male sprinters Olympic athletes for Argentina Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Pan American Games bronze medalists for Argentina German emigrants to Argentina Naturalized citizens of Argentina Pan American Games bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1951 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1955 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games 20th-century Argentine sportsmen {{Argentina-athletics-bio-stub