Sándor Iharos (person)

Hungarian athlete. Born 1930, died in Budapest 1996.

In 1955 and 1956, the best middle-distance runner in the world was Sándor Iharos, holding no less than 8 world records in distances from 1500 to 10000 meters.

Iharos was favourite to win several gold medals at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, but as an officer in the Army of Hungary, he was prevented by the events of the Hungarian Uprising in October of that year from attending the Games. His athletic career did not last for very long after the Uprising - though he did participate in a 4 X 1 mile world record relay race in 1959.

Sándor Iharos - World Records:
(sorted by date and distance)

• May 14, 1955 - 3000 m - 7 m 55.6 s.
• May 30, 1955 - 2 miles - 8 m 33.4 s.
• July 28, 1955 - 1500 m - 3 m 40.8 s.
• September 10, 1955 - 5000 m - 13 m 50.8 s.
• October 23, 1955 - 3 miles - 13 m 14.2 s.
• October 23, 1955 - 5000 m - 13 m 40.6 s.
• July 15, 1956 - 6 miles - 27 m 43.8 s.
• July 15, 1956 - 10000 m - 28 m 42.8 s.

Take a close look at the data in those last four lines. Yes, that's right. He set two world records on the same date, twice - and on July 15, 1956, he beat the world record in not one, but two long middle-distance races, 6 miles and 10 kilometers. Most of us would be happy with one.