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Josef Imbach (athlete)

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Josef Imbach
Imbach in 1921
Personal information
Born15 December 1894
Lyss, Switzxerland
Died14 September 1964 (aged 69)
Geneva, Switzerland
Sport
SportAthletics
EventSprints
ClubCA Geneva

Josef Imbach (15 December 1894 – 14 September 1964) was a Swiss sprinter who competed in the Olympic Games in 1920 and 1924.[1]

Career

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At the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp Imbach represented Switzerland in the 100 m and 200 m dashes and the 4 × 100 m relay, but did not qualify for the final in any of these events.[2]

Imbach finished second behind Harry Edward in the 220 yards event at the British 1922 AAA Championships.[3][4][5]

Two years later in Paris Imbach competed in the 400 m, winning his heat in 51.8 and then his quarter-final in 48.0.[2] The latter time was an Olympic record and an unofficial world record.[6][nb 1] In his semi-final, Imbach placed second to the eventual gold medalist, Eric Liddell, in 48.3.[2] In the final Imbach went out hard, but tripped on the ropes used to separate the lanes, fell and failed to finish.[7][10]

Imbach also ran in the 4 × 100 m relay as part of the Swiss team; Switzerland was disqualified in the final.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ The previous Olympic and world record for men's 400 m was 48.2 by Charles Reidpath from the 1912 Olympics;[6][7] however, the world record for the slightly longer 440 yd (402.3 m) race was 47.4 by Ted Meredith.[7] Imbach's 48.0 was the best by a European amateur at either distance (Beauchamp Day, a professional, had run 440 yards in 47.8),[8][9] but although record lists for the metric and imperial distances were kept separately, Imbach's 48.0 was never ratified as either a world record or a European record since Liddell's 47.6 from the final superseded it.[7][8]

References

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  1. ^ "Josef Imbach". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Josef Imbach Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  3. ^ "AAA Championships". Daily Mirror. 1 July 1922. Retrieved 1 December 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Athletic Championships". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. 3 July 1922. Retrieved 1 December 2024 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  6. ^ a b Les Jeux de la VIIIE Olympiade Paris 1924: Rapport Officiel (PDF) (in French). French Olympic Committee. p. 108. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d Jukola, Martti (1935). Huippu-urheilun historia (in Finnish). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.
  8. ^ a b García, José María. "Progresión de los Récords de Europa al Aire Libre" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  9. ^ Sparks, Bob (31 December 2002). "European Records Progression (Men)". Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  10. ^ Butler, Mark (ed.). IAAF Athletics Statistics Book: Games of the XXX Olympiad London 2012. IAAF Communications Department. p. 69.
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