|alma_mater=
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}}Gunder Hägg (31 December 1918 – 27 November 2004) was a Swedish runner and multiple world record breaker of the 1940s. He set over a dozen middle distance world records at events ranging from 1500 to 5000 meters, including three at both the 1500 meters and the mile, one at 3000 meters and one at 5000 meters.
Hägg and fellow Swede, Arne Andersson, lowered the record for the mile to just over four minutes (4:01.4) – accelerating the progression of the world record in the mile run. Both athletes set three world records for the mile. Hägg first set the record in July 1942 at 4:06.2, a time which was equalled by Anderson later the same month. This record was broken by Hägg (4:04.6) in September the same year. Andersson recaptured the world record in July 1943 (4:02.6), and improved it further in July 1944 (4:01.6). However, Hägg had the last word when he ran 4:01.4 in Malmö in 1945 (Hägg's record was not broken until Roger Bannister ran the first sub-4 mile in Oxford in 1954).
Hägg was also the first man to run a sub-14 minute 5000m.
In 1946, Gunder Hägg was branded a professional because he received payments for running. He was therefore barred from competition, together with Arne Andersson and Henry Jonsson.[ Four years earlier, he earned the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.]
References
{{Commons category|Gunder Hägg}}{{s-start}}{{s-ach|rec}}{{succession box|before={{flagicon|NZL}} Jack Lovelock
{{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson|title=Men's 1500 m World Record Holder|years=10 August 1941 – 17 August 1943
7 July 1944 – 29 June 1952|after={{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson
{{flagicon|FRG}} Werner Lueg}}{{succession box|before={{flagicon|GBR}} Sydney Wooderson
{{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson
{{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson|title=Men's Mile World Record Holder|years=1 July 1942 – 10 July 1942
4 September 1942 – 1 July 1943
17 July 1945 – 6 May 1954|after={{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson
{{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson
{{flagicon|GBR}} Roger Bannister}}{{succession box|before={{flagicon|SWE}} Henry Kälarne|title=Men's 3000 m World Record Holder|years=28 August 1942 – 12 August 1949|after={{flagicon|BEL}} Gaston Reiff}}{{succession box|before={{flagicon|FIN}} Taisto Mäki |title=Men's Two Miles World Record Holder|
years=3 June 1942 – 26 August 1952 |
after={{flagicon|BEL}} Gaston Reiff}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|FIN}} Taisto Mäki |title=Men's 5000 m World Record Holder|
years=20 September 1942 – 30 May 1954 |
after={{flagicon|TCH}} Emil Zátopek}}
{{succession box|before={{flagicon|HUN}} Miklós Szabó
{{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson|title=European Record Holder Men's 1500 m|years=10 August 1941 – 16 August 1943
17 July 1944 – 14 July 1947|after={{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson
{{flagicon|SWE}} Lennart Strand}}{{s-ach|aw}}{{succession box | title=Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal|before={{flagicon|SWE}} Alfred Dahlqvist|after={{flagicon|SWE}} Arne Andersson| years=1942}}{{s-end}}{{APAthleteOTY}}{{Footer US NC 5000m Men}}{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagg, Gunder}} 6 : 1918 births|2004 deaths|People from Bräcke Municipality|Former world record holders in athletics (track and field)|Swedish male middle-distance runners|Swedish male steeplechase runners