A great Athlete: Gaston Roelants

The Belgian steeplechaser Gaston Roelants was a well-known name internationally by this time, including for many of the 10,000 spectators at ISTAF. He completely dominated the race in the Olympic Stadium just as he did to an even greater degree at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, later in the season. At ISTAF he won in 8:33.2 and before winning the Olympic title in 8:30. At this time his world record for the event was 8:29.6.