16 Facts About Alvin Kraenzlein

Alvin Christian "Al" Kraenzlein was an American track-and-field athlete known as "the father of the modern hurdling technique".

Alvin Kraenzlein was the first sportsman in the history of the Olympic games to win four individual gold medals in a single discipline at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Alvin Kraenzlein is an Olympic Hall of Fame and National Track and Field Hall of Fame inductee.

Alvin Kraenzlein attended the University of Wisconsin where he studied engineering.

Alvin Kraenzlein led the Wisconsin team to the team title.

Alvin Kraenzlein won the 1897 Amateur Athletic Union title in the 220-yard low hurdles.

Alvin Kraenzlein was a leader of the Penn track-and-field team that won four consecutive team IC4A titles.

Alvin Kraenzlein was noted for his hurdling technique, as he was among the first to practice the modern method of straight-lead-leg hurdle clearing.

Arthur Croome from Great Britain first attempted the straight-lead-leg style in 1886 Alvin Kraenzlein perfected it and turned into a mainstream technique.

In 1900, Alvin Kraenzlein was training in England in preparation for the Paris Summer Olympics.

Alvin Kraenzlein became the most successful athlete of the 1900 Olympics.

Alvin Kraenzlein returned to Milwaukee and started a dental practice.

Alvin Kraenzlein became a manager of the Milwaukee Athletic Association.

Alvin Kraenzlein practiced dentistry in Philadelphia until 1906, when he became the track-and-field coach at Mercersburg Academy, a selective prep school in Pennsylvania.

Alvin Kraenzlein coached at summer camps and at the Havana Golf and Tennis Club in Cuba in the winter.

Alvin Kraenzlein died in early 1928 of endocarditis in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.