Shaul Ladany is a two time Olympian and two time survivor. The 90 year old world record holder survived both the Holocaust and the Munich Massacre, which took place 54 years ago on September 5-6, 1972.
Born in Yugoslavia in 1936, Ladany was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the age of 8. After surviving the Holocaust, he and his family moved to Israel in 1948. At 15 years old, Ladany began his athletic career as a runner.
Ladany competed in the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games as a racewalker. In 1972, he set a world record in the 50-mile walk and was one of five Israeli athletes who escaped the Munich Massacre, while 11 other members of the Israeli Olympic delegation were murdered during the attack.
Throughout his career, Ladany won 28 national titles in Israel, five gold medals at the Maccabiah Games, was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal by the International Olympic Committee in 2007, and in 2012, was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
