30 Facts About Shaul Ladany

Shaul Paul Ladany is an Israeli Holocaust survivor, racewalker and two-time Olympian.

Shaul Ladany holds the world record in the 50-mile walk, and the Israeli national record in the 50-kilometer walk.

Shaul Ladany is a former world champion in the 100-kilometer walk.

Shaul Ladany is a Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management at Ben Gurion University, has authored over a dozen books and 120 scholarly papers, and reportedly speaks nine languages.

Shaul Ladany was born to a Jewish family in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Shaul Ladany was terrified the entire time that he would be discovered, but says that after that experience he wasn't afraid of anything.

Shaul Ladany was there for the 50th anniversary of liberation, and when a Bergen-Belsen museum was dedicated.

Shaul Ladany was brought on the Kastner train from Bergen-Belsen to Switzerland.

Shaul Ladany began his competitive career as a marathon runner in Israel, when he was 18 years old.

Shaul Ladany finished in 24th place, with a time of 5 hours, 1 minute, and 6 seconds.

In early 1972, Shaul Ladany set a world record in the 50-mile walk in a time of 7:44:47, shattering the world mark that had stood since 1935.

Shaul Ladany holds the Israeli national record in the 50-kilometer walk, at 4:17:07, which he set in 1972.

Shaul Ladany said he wanted to show the Germans that a Jew had survived, and he wore a Star of David on his warm-up jersey.

Shaul Ladany finished his race in 19th place, with a time of 4 hours, 24 minutes, and 38 seconds.

Shaul Ladany then returned to the athletes' Olympic Village and went to sleep.

Shaul Ladany ran around to the building housing the US team and banged on the ground-floor apartment belonging to the team coaches.

Shaul Ladany awoke the American track coach Bill Bowerman, who alerted the German police.

Shaul Ladany was the first person to spread the alert as to the attack, and was one of only five Israeli team members to escape.

In 1992, speaking of the massacre, Shaul Ladany said: "It's with me all the time, and I remember every detail".

Shaul Ladany returned to competition two months later, against the wishes of the Israeli track and field authorities.

Shaul Ladany won the gold medal in the 100-km walk, in a time of 9:31:00.

In 1976, Shaul Ladany set the US record in the 75-kilometer walk for the second year in a row.

Shaul Ladany became the first person to win both the American Open and American Masters 75-kilometer walking championships.

Shaul Ladany won the Israeli national walking championship 28 times from 1963 to 1988.

Shaul Ladany won the US national walking championship six times, won the Belgian national walking championship twice, won the national walking championship in Switzerland, and won the South Africa national walking championship.

Shaul Ladany has continued to compete with considerable success at the masters level into his seventies.

Shaul Ladany has had visiting appointments at Columbia University, University of California, Irvine, Georgia Tech, Emory University, Rutgers University, Baruch College of the City University of New York, Temple University, University of Cape Town, Science Center Berlin, Singapore University, and CSIRO.

Shaul Ladany has authored over a dozen scholarly books and 110 scientific articles.

In 2007, Shaul Ladany was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for outstanding service to the Olympic Movement.

Shaul Ladany was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.