Alvin Kraenzlein
Kraenzlein in 1911 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Alvin Christian Kraenzlein | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | December 12, 1876 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | January 6, 1928 (aged 51) Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Athletics competitor | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alvin Christian "Al" Kraenzlein (December 12, 1876 – January 6, 1928) was an American track-and-field athlete known as "the father of the modern hurdling technique". He was the first sportsman in the history of the Olympic games to win four individual gold medals in a single discipline at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. As of 2016, Alvin Kraenzlein is the only track-and-field athlete who has won four individual titles at one Olympics. Kraenzlein is also known for developing a pioneering technique of straight-leg hurdling, which allowed him to set two world hurdle records. He is an Olympic Hall of Fame (1984) and National Track and Field Hall of Fame (1974) inductee.