Anders Gärderud (born August 28, 1946) is a former Swedish athlete, winner of 3000 m steeplechase at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Born in Stockholm, Anders Gärderud experimented with several events without any success, before he rose to athletic greatness in the 3000 m steeplechase.
Gärderud's first major tournament were the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated in the heats of 800 m and 1500 m. In the following years, Gärderud consentrated only to the 3000 m steeplechase, and was already a main favourite at the 1972 Summer Olympics, but unfortunately he was suffering from a bad cold, and was eliminated in his heat. Gärderud was also eliminated in the heats of the 5000 m at the Olympics, but only seven days later, he set a new 3000 m steeplechase world record of 8.20.8.
At the 1974 European Championships, Gärderud was narrowly beaten by Bronisław Malinowski from Poland, but managed to broke the 3000 m steeplechase world record twice in 1975. At first he ran 8.10.4 and only six days later 8.09.8.
The culmination of Gärderud's career was at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where after a stirring contest with Malinowski, Gärderud won the gold medal in a new world record of 8.08.0.
Last updated: 05-07-2005 11:24:10
Last updated: 05-07-2005 18:09:53