Alvin KRAENZLEIN

At the 1900 Games Alvin Kraenzlein of the United States won the 60m dash, the 110m hurdles and 200m hurdles and the long jump. His four individual gold medals remain the record for a track & field athlete at one edition of the Games, and he accomplished the feat over a period of only three days.

Pioneering straight-leg hurdling

Kraenzlein's pioneering technique of straight-leg hurdling brought him two world hurdle records in addition to his five world records in the long jump. The long jump records were all set in 1899, three in April at the Penn Relays, and two in May at the IC4A Championships. Kraenzlein's great rival was the Syracuse athlete, Meyer Prinstein.

Victory by one centimetre

At the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris Prinstein led after the qualifying round in long jump, but was forbidden from competing in the finals by his coach because they were held on Sunday. Prinstein lost when Kraenzlein jumped one centimetre farther in the final. Although a qualified dentist, Kraenzlein never practiced, preferring to become a track coach, notably of the German and Cuban national teams and at the University of Michigan.