Frank BAUMGARTL

Frank Baumgartl was leading the 1976 Olympic steeplechase final on the final straight, when he hit the final barrier and fell to the track, being overtaken by Anders Gärderud and Bronisław Malinowski and Baumgartl could only place third. He earned East German national titles in 1974 in the indoor 3,000 metres steeplechase, and 12 km. cross-country, and in the 1980 4 km. cross-country. He also set one world record in the steeplechase in 1973 at Helsinki.

Baumgartl was educated as a Ph.D. in automation engineering and worked as a software development engineer for vehicles at Stuttgart after the German reunification. He was on a cycling trip around Lake Como in 2010 when he died of a heart attack at the age of only 55.

Personal Best: 3000S – 8:10.36 (1976).