Arne Andersson

Not to be confused with American professional wrestler Arn Anderson.

File:Arne Andersson.jpg

Arne Andersson

Arne Anderson (27 October 1917, Trollhättan – 1 April 2009) was a Swedish middle distance runner who became famous for his rivalry with his compatriot Gunder Hägg in the 1940s. Andersson set a 1500 metres world record in Gothenburg in August 1943 with a time of 3:45.0 min. He was born in Trollhättan, Sweden.

Andersson set three world records in the mile: the first in Stockholm in July 1942 in (4:06.2); this record was broken in the same year by Hägg (4:04.6). Andersson recaptured the world record in Gothenburg in July 1943 (4:02.6), and improved it further in Malmö in July 1944 (4:01.6). However, Hägg had the last word when he ran (4:01.4) in Malmö in 1945 (Hägg's record was not broken until Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 Mile in Oxford in 1954). Andersson won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1943.

References

Records
Preceded by Gunder Hägg	Men's 1500 m World Record Holder 17 August 1943 – 7 July 1944	Succeeded by Gunder Hägg
Preceded by Gunder Hägg	Men's Mile World Record Holder 10 July 1942 – 4 September 1942	Succeeded by Gunder Hägg
Preceded by Gunder Hägg	Men's Mile World Record Holder 1 July 1943 – 17 July 1945	Succeeded by Gunder Hägg
Preceded by Gunder Hägg	Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal 1943	Succeeded by Nils Karlsson
Preceded by Gunder Hägg	European Record Holder Men's 1500 m 17 August 1943 – 16 July 1944	Succeeded by Gunder Hägg