Karel Frankenstein (19 April 1897 – 11 February 1954) was a Czech sprinter and

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

. Domestically, he had represented

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

. He then competed as an athlete for Czechoslovakia at the 1920 Summer Olympics. At the games, he would compete in the men's 400 metres and men's 800 metres, though did not advance further from the heats. After the games, he would become the national champion in the men's 800 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay.

Biography

Karel Frankenstein was born on 19 April 1897 in

Jičín Jičín (; or ''Gitschin'') is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservatio ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Austria-Hungary 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#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. Domestically, Frankenstein had represented

in athletics competitions.

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

first competed at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium. Frankenstein would compete on behalf of the nation at the games. He first competed in the heats of the men's 800 metres on 15 August. In his round, he had placed sixth out of the eight competitors in the round. He would not advance further. He then competed in the heats of the men's 400 metres on 19 August. He ran in a estimated time of 52.5 seconds and had placed third in his heat of five competitors. He would not advance further. In the same year of the 1920 Summer Games, he would set personal bests in the 400 metres and 800 metres with times of 51.2 seconds and 2 minutes flat. A year after the games, he would become the Czechoslovakian national champion in the 800 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay as part of Sparta Praha. It was believed that he died somewhere between 1940 and 1945 though the actual date of his death would be on 11 February 1954 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankenstein, Karel 1897 births 1954 deaths People from Jičín Athletes (track and field) at the 1920 Summer Olympics Czech male sprinters Olympic athletes for Czechoslovakia