60 Great Sporting Heroes: No. 60 Shaul Ladany

By JEREMY LAST
These days Shaul Ladany is best known as an engineering professor at Ben Gurion University, but the 72-year-old also has an illustrious sporting background in racewalking. Ladany, a member of Israel's 1968 and 1972 Olympic teams, still holds the world record in the 50-mile walk he set in 1972 (7:23:50). Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Ladany has won the Israeli national walking championships 28 times and the US championship six times, from 1973 to 1981. In 1972, he won the gold medal in the 100 km at the World Championships in a time of 9:31:00. He began his career as a marathon runner but turned to walking early on and managed to become one of the best walkers of all time.