Gunder's Shadow

After his U.S. debut three weeks ago, Sweden's wraithlike Gunder Haegg stood at a microphone and told his countrymen he was sorry that Arne Andersson had not come along with him. Andersson, a 27-year-old Gothenburg schoolteacher, had set the pace for Haegg in most of his seven world's record runs, had always finished a shadow length behind.

Last week, on the eve of his second U.S. appearance, Gunder Haegg was doubly sorry his shadow had stayed home. In the National Swedish Festival track meet at Gothenburg, just a year to the day after Haegg broke the world's mile record, Andersson beat it by two full seconds with a 4:02.6 mile.

The following night, the anniversary of his two-mile record, Haegg had a chance to do something equally spectacular. He toed the mark with Gilbert Dodds and three other U.S. runners in an invitation two-mile race at Chicago's Soldier Field. But U.S. pacemakers again failed to hurry Haegg. Though he finished 20 yards in front of Dodds and posted the third fastest two miles ever run in the U.S., Haegg's time (9:02.8) was 15 seconds away from his record.

While Haegg entrained for California, third stop on his nationwide tour, U.S. track officials began pulling wires to get a transatlantic passage for the shadow Haegg left behind.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.