{{Short description|Israeli racewalker (born 1936)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox sportsperson | headercolor = | name = Shaul Paul Ladany | image = Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - The Winners of the 10,000 M Walk.jpg | image_size = <!--Only for images narrower than 220 pixels.--> | caption = Shaul Ladany (center), winner of [[10-km walk]], on podium during [[8th Maccabiah Games]] at [[Ramat Gan Stadium]] (1969) | native_name = שאול לדני | native_name_lang = | nationality = Israeli | citizenship = Israeli | hometown = [[Omer, Israel]] | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|4|2}} | birth_place = [[Belgrade]], [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|death year|death month|death day|birth year|birth month|birth day}} --> | death_place = | monuments = | education = *[[Technion – Israel Institute of Technology]] (BSc, [[Mechanical Engineering]], 1960; MSc, 1961) * [[The Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] (Graduate Diploma, Business Administration, 1964) * [[Columbia University]] (PhD, Business Administration, 1968) | alma_mater = | occupation = Professor emeritus of industrial engineering and management | years_active = | other_interests = | website = <!-- {{URL|www.example.com}} --> | country = | sport = [[Racewalking]] | employer = [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]] | agent = | height = 5 ft 8 in | weight = 148 lbs | worlds = [[Gold medal]] in [[100-km walk]] at 1972 World Championships (9:31:00) | regionals = | nationals = National Championships: 28 Israeli, 6 U.S., 2 Belgian, 1 Swiss, and 1 South African. | olympics = | paralympics = | highestranking = * World record in [[50-mile walk]] (7:23:50; 1972–present) * Israeli national record in [[50-km walk]] (4:17:06; 1972–present) | pb = 50-km walk: 4:17:06 (1972) | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's [[athletics (sport)|athletics]] }} {{MedalCountry | {{ISR}} }} {{Medal|Competition | [[Olympic Games]] }} {{Medal|TrueSpirit|2007}} {{MedalCompetition | Maccabiah Games }} {{MedalGold | [[1969 Maccabiah Games|Israel 1969]] | 3-km walk }} {{MedalGold | [[1969 Maccabiah Games|Israel 1969]] | [[10-km walk]] }} {{MedalGold | [[1969 Maccabiah Games|Israel 1969]] | [[50-km walk]] }} {{MedalGold | [[1973 Maccabiah Games|Israel 1973]] | [[20-km walk]] }} {{MedalGold | [[1973 Maccabiah Games|Israel 1973]] | 50-km walk }} | show-medals = | updated = February 24, 2013 | module = {{Listen| embed=yes|filename=Shaul Ladany - Saturday Live - 07 Mar 2009 - b00hxnv3.flac|title=Shaul Ladany's voice|type=speech|description=from the BBC programme [[Saturday Live (UK TV series)|Saturday Live]], March 7, 2009.<ref name="XXX">{{Cite episode |title=Shaul Ladany |series=Saturday Live |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hxnv3 |access-date=January 18, 2014 |station=BBC Radio 4 |date=March 7, 2009}}</ref>}} }}

'''Shaul Paul Ladany''' ({{langx|he|שאול לדני}}; born April 2, 1936) is an Israeli [[Holocaust survivor]], racewalker and two-time Olympian. He holds the world record in the 50-mile walk (7:23:50),<ref name="espn">{{cite news |last1=Schaap |first1=Jeremy |title=A life of remarkable resolve: The story of Shaul Ladany, survivor of the Holocaust and Munich massacre |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/34626290/a-life-remarkable-resolve-story-shaul-ladany-survivor-holocaust-munich-massacre |access-date=September 21, 2022 |work=Outside the Lines |publisher=ESPN |date=September 21, 2022}}</ref> and the Israeli national record in the 50-kilometer walk (4:17:07). He is a former world champion in the 100-kilometer walk.<ref name="thejewishweek2">{{cite news |author=Renee Ghert-Zand |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/healthcare/healthiness_long_distance_walker |title=The Healthiness of a Long-Distance Walker |newspaper=The Jewish Week |date=January 31, 2012 |access-date=February 25, 2013 |archive-date=October 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021002007/http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/healthcare/healthiness_long_distance_walker |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="haaretz1">{{cite news |last=Green |first=David B. |url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/questions-answers-a-conversation-with-shaul-p-ladany-1.268137 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101106224739/http://www.haaretz.com/news/questions-answers-a-conversation-with-shaul-p-ladany-1.268137 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2010 |title=Questions & Answers/A conversation with Shaul P. Ladany |newspaper=Haaretz |date=January 14, 2009 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref>

Ladany survived the [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp]] in 1944, when he was eight years old. In 1972, he survived the [[Munich Massacre]].<ref name="ap-cbc2022">{{cite news |last1=Grieshaber |first1=Kirsten |title=Survivor of Holocaust, Munich Olympic attack heads back to Germany |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/munich-attack-shaul-ladany-1.6572411 |access-date=September 4, 2022 |agency=The Associated Press |publisher=CBC Sports |date=September 4, 2022}}</ref> He is now a Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management at [[Ben Gurion University]],<ref name="espn" /> has authored over a dozen books and 120 scholarly papers, and reportedly speaks nine languages. He lives in [[Omer, Israel|Omer]], Israel.<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="espn" />

Asked if it would be fair to call him the ultimate survivor, Ladany laughed and answered: "I don't know about that. What I can say is that in my life there has never been a dull moment."<ref name="independent2">{{cite news |last=Blavo |first=John |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/shaul-ladany-the-long-walk-through-horrors-of-20th-century-1206199.html |title=Shaul Ladany: The long walk through horrors of 20th century |newspaper=The Independent |date=December 21, 2008 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref>

== Early and family life == Ladany was born to a Jewish family in [[Belgrade]], [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].<ref name="espn" /> He has two sisters, Shosh (two years older) and Marta (five years younger, actually his first cousin, adopted by his parents when she was six months old).<ref name="sports-reference1">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/shaul-ladany-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418051109/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/la/shaul-ladany-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |title=Shaul Ladany Bio, Stats, and Results |publisher=Sports-reference.com |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="jewishsports1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/Shaul-Ladany.htm |title=Shaul Ladany profile |publisher=Jewishsports.net |access-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-date=October 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003194003/http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/Shaul-Ladany.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> He and his wife Shosh were married for 58 years, until her death in 2019, and have a daughter Danit<ref name="espn" /> and three grandchildren who live in [[Modi'in]].<ref name="thejewishweek2" /><ref name="scotsman1">{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/tears-as-day-of-deliverance-from-belsen-recalled-1-708065 |title=Tears as day of deliverance from Belsen recalled |publisher=Scotsman.com |date=April 16, 2005 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref><ref name="jpost1">{{cite news |author=Yocheved Miriam Russo |url=https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Books/Article.aspx?id=129407 |title=Setting the record straight |newspaper=Jerusalem Post |date=January 15, 2009 |access-date=March 2, 2013}}</ref>

== Concentration camp == During the [[Holocaust]] in Europe, Ladany's maternal grandmother and grandfather were sent to [[Auschwitz concentration camp]],<ref name="espn" /> where, Ladany has said, they "were made into [[Soap made from human corpses|soap]]."<ref name="google1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKZa91YO_4YC&q=+Ladany&pg=PT26 |title=One Day in September: The Full Story of the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and the Israeli Revenge Operation "Wrath of God" |author=Simon Reeve |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing Inc. |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-61145-035-4 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="independent1">{{cite news |last=Turnbull |first=Simon |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/shaul-ladany-still-king-of-the-road-6295322.html |title=Shaul Ladany: Still king of the road – Olympics |newspaper=The Independent |date=January 27, 2012 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref>

In April 1941, when he was five years old, the Germans attacked Belgrade and the [[Luftwaffe]] [[Operation Retribution (1941)|bombed his home]].<ref name="espn" /> His parents fled with him to Hungary.<ref name="maccabi1">{{cite web |url=http://www.maccabi.com.au/News/1198/Israeli-champions-long-march.cfm |author=Charly Wegman |title=Israeli champion's long march |publisher=Maccabi Australia |date=June 14, 2012 |access-date=February 28, 2013 |archive-date=September 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917175247/http://www.maccabi.com.au/News/1198/Israeli-champions-long-march.cfm |url-status=dead}}</ref> There, when he was eight years old they tried to hide him in a monastery for safekeeping, warning him to keep secret the fact that he was Jewish. He was terrified the entire time that he would be discovered, but says that after that experience he wasn't afraid of anything.<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="independent2" /><ref name="independent1" />

In 1944, the eight-year-old was captured by the [[Nazi]]s with his parents, and shipped to the [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp]].<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="maccabi1" /><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/27/sport/olympics-2012-munich-shaul-ladany-survivor |author=James Montague |title=The Munich massacre: A survivor's story |publisher=CNN |date=September 5, 2012 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref><ref name="jewsinsports1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewsinsports.org/Olympics.asp?sport=olympics&ID=413 |title=Ladany, Shaul |publisher=Jewsinsports.org |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="google2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-qWbkG8Utw8C&q=+Ladany&pg=PT95 |title=Going Far |author=Joe Henderson |year=2011 |publisher=Joe Henderson |isbn=978-0-9850195-5-6 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> Many of his family were killed. But in December 1944, he was saved by American Jews who had paid a ransom to have a number of Jews, including him and his parents, released from the concentration camp, where 100,000 Jews had already been killed.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="independent1" /><ref name="google2" /><ref name="google2464">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0dYzAAAAIBAJ&pg=2464,1876348&dq=shaul+ladany&hl=en |title=Belsen Survivor Escapes Death Again |newspaper=The Miami News |date=September 6, 1972 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}{{dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="thejewishweek1">{{cite news |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/healthcare/healthiness_long_distance_walker |author=Renee Ghert-Zand |title=The Healthiness of a Long-Distance Walker |newspaper=The Jewish Week |date=January 31, 2012 |access-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-date=October 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021002007/http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/healthcare/healthiness_long_distance_walker |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ladany recalled:

<blockquote>I saw my father beaten by the [[SS]], and I lost most of my family there... A ransom deal that the Americans attempted saved 2,000 Jews and I was one. I actually went into the [[Gas chamber#Germany|gas chamber]], but was reprieved. God knows why.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /></blockquote>

Describing the concentration camp, Major Dick Williams, one of the first British soldiers to enter and liberate the camp, said: "It was an evil, filthy place; a hell on Earth."<ref name="scotsman1" /> Ladany was one of the few of Yugoslavia's 70,000 Jews who survived the Holocaust.<ref name="independent1" /> He visits the concentration camp every time he is in Europe. He was also there for the 50th anniversary of liberation, and when a Bergen-Belsen museum was dedicated.<ref name="haaretz1" />

He was brought on the [[Kastner train]] from Bergen-Belsen to Switzerland.<ref name="espn" /> After the war ended, he and his family moved back to Belgrade. In December 1948, when he was 12 years old, the family emigrated to Israel, which had just become a nation state.<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="thejewishweek1" />

== Education == Ladany received his BSc in [[Mechanical Engineering]] from the [[Technion – Israel Institute of Technology]] in 1960, and an MSc from Technion in 1961.<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="google2" /><ref name="google9">{{cite web |url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:UjohK-K5NYsJ:web.it.nctu.edu.tw/qtqm/qtqmpapers/2006V3N2/2006V3N2_F7.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjpgLERmlBsNf-dLzvWYyiQAmTtFhML_ZSIXZZIPLPf49_FFD35qm2PHBZbST1AvY2z7_6rB8yInzAIzRhtmtLPRPOjKBjYL5LubJAErW0Iy4L5v_8oIzuaREFGDYJ5OE8c5Z2A&sig=AHIEtbSDX68zkmpapnkirE_YxK2OMG7HVw |title=Developing Formulas for Setting an Improved Double-Sampling Plan |access-date=March 2, 2013}}</ref> In 1964, he earned a Graduate Diploma in [[Business Administration]] from [[The Hebrew University of Jerusalem]].<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="google9" /> In 1968, he was awarded the [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in Business Administration by [[Columbia University]],<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="google2" /> followed by [[postdoctoral research]] at [[Tel Aviv University]].

== Competitive walking career == === Early career and Olympics === Ladany began his competitive career as a [[marathon runner]] in Israel, when he was 18 years old.<ref name="google6526">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EeIbAAAAIBAJ&pg=6526,2552697&dq=shaul+ladany&hl=en |title=Israeli Olympian Decries Walkout at Olympic Games |newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |date=February 6, 1973 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> He later said "in the 1950s, when I started running, people also thought I was a nut. Jews didn't run. They would laugh."<ref name="haaretz1" /> He also said that "People thought of it only as punishment for soldiers."<ref name="thejewishweek1" /> In his mid-twenties in the early 1960s, he switched to [[race walking]].<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /> Ladany walked his first race in 1962.<ref name="haaretz1" /> Commenting on the sport, he said "You need a certain type of mental attitude: a willingness to take punishment, to have a lack of comfort, and pain, to continue and continue. I'm not a psychologist, but was I stubborn, so I entered race walking? Or did I enter race walking, and become stubborn? It's the same in all long-distance events. Quitters don't win, and winners don't quit."<ref name="autogenerated1" />

In 1963, he won the first of his 28 Israeli national titles.<ref name="sports-reference1" /> In 1966, he broke the oldest U.S. track record, which had stood since 1878, in the 50-mile-walk.<ref name="google6526" /> In April 1968, he again broke the U.S. record in the 50-mile-walk, with a time of 8:05:18 in New Jersey.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1960-1969/1968/1968.04.22.pdf |title=Ladany Wins Record Walk |access-date=March 2, 2013 |archive-date=April 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427001622/http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1960-1969/1968/1968.04.22.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1968, at the age of 32, Ladany competed in his first Olympics – the [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Olympics]] – in the [[Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 kilometres walk|50-kilometer walk]] (31 miles, 121 yards) in [[Mexico City]].<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="google5455">{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=d5BBAAAAIBAJ&pg=5455,419761&dq=shaul+ladany&hl=en |author=Ira Berkow |title=Dr Shaul Ladany is Entire Israeli Olympic Team |newspaper=New York Times |date=May 10, 1972 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> He finished in 24th place,<ref name="espn" /> with a time of 5 hours, 1 minute, and 6 seconds.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /> He trained and competed without a coach.<ref name="google5455" />

At the [[8th Maccabiah Games]] in July 1969, he won a gold medal in the 3-km walk (13.35.4). Then at the [[1973 Maccabiah Games]], he won the [[10-km walk]] and the 50-km walk.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nVYAAAAYAAJ&q=ladany+maccabiah |title=King of the Road: The Autobiography of an Israeli Scientist and a World Record-Holding Race Walker |author=Shaul P. Ladany |publisher=Gefen Publishing |year=2008 |isbn=9789652294210 |access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref><ref name="google7">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yw-DAAAAMAAJ&q=ladany+maccabiah |title=Great Jews in Sports |author=Robert Slater |publisher=J. David Publishers |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8246-0433-2 |access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref> In early 1972, Ladany set a world record in the [[50-mile walk]] in a time of 7:44:47, shattering the world mark that had stood since 1935.<ref name="jewishsports1" /> In April 1972, he lowered his world record to 7:23:50, in New Jersey; a world record time that still stands today.<ref name="thejewishweek2" /><ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref name="google5455" /><ref name="haaretz2" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1744790962.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+19%2C+1974&author=&pub=The+Sun+%281837-1985%29&desc=Ladany+training+to+win+Olympics+in+a+walk&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411160716/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/1744790962.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+19,+1974&author=&pub=The+Sun+(1837–1985)&desc=Ladany+training+to+win+Olympics+in+a+walk&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |author=Seymour S. Smith |title=Ladany training to win Olympics in a walk |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=August 19, 1974 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> He also holds the Israeli national record in the 50-kilometer walk, at 4:17:07, which he also set in 1972.<ref name="thejewishweek2" /><ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="haaretz2">{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/sports-shorts-1.229271 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140416180224/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/sports-shorts-1.229271 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 16, 2014 |title=Sports Shorts – Israel News |newspaper=Haaretz |date=September 12, 2007 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref>

In September 1972, he returned as the sole male member of the Israeli track and field team, to compete in the [[Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 kilometres walk|50-kilometer walk]] in the [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Olympics]] in [[Munich]], Germany.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /> He said he wanted to show the Germans that a Jew had survived,<ref name="espn" /> and he wore a [[Star of David]] on his warm-up jersey.<ref name="google2464" /><ref name="seattlepi1972">{{cite news |last=Owen |first=John |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Olympics-Flashback-1972-Terror-and-turmoil-1280301.php |title=Olympics Flashback: 1972: Terror and turmoil |publisher=seattlepi.com |date=July 24, 2008 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref> When he was congratulated by locals on his fluent German, he responded: "I learned it well when I spent a year at Bergen Belsen".<ref name="seattlepi1972" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ofxl2juY25YC&q=Shaul+Ladany&pg=PT382 |title=Ten Moments That Shook the Sports World: One Sportswriter's Eyewitness Accounts of the Most Incredible Sporting Events of the Past Fifty Years |author=Stan Isaacs |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing Inc. |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-60239-628-9 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> Asked about competing in Germany, the [[Holocaust survivor]] said: "I don't say I have to hate Germans. Of course not the younger generation, but I have no special sympathy for the older generation who have been accused of what happened in the Nazi period."<ref name="google2" />

Ladany finished his race in 19th place, with a time of 4 hours, 24 minutes, and 38 seconds.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /> Asked how he felt, he replied: "Arrogant because of what the Germans did to me; proud because I am a Jew".<ref name="google2" /> He then returned to the athletes' [[Olympic Village]] and went to sleep.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="seattlepi1972" />

=== Munich massacre === In the early hours of September 5, 1972, the [[Munich massacre]] began.<ref name="espn" /> Eight rifle-carrying Palestinian terrorists, who were members of the [[Black September (group)|Black September]] faction of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], broke into the Israeli quarters in the Olympic Village to take the Israeli Olympic delegation athletes and coaches hostage.<ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="google3">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsgDAAAAMBAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany&pg=PA104 |author=Kenny Moore |title=Leading Men |publisher=Runner's World |date=April 2006 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="google4">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0TLvWXFIi0C&q=Shaul+Ladany&pg=PA444 |title=Momentous Century: Personal and Eyewitness Accounts of the Rise of the Jewish Homeland and State, 1875–1978 |author=Levi Soshuk, Azriel Louis Eisenberg |publisher=Associated University Presses |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-8453-4748-5 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="nytimes1">Neil Amdur,[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/sports/olympics/13ladany.html?_r=0 "Ladany, an Ultimate Survivor, Recalls Painful Memories"], ''New York Times'', July 13, 2008.</ref> The terrorists captured wrestling coach [[Moshe Weinberg]]. They shot and killed Weinberg, and threw his body out of a window onto the sidewalk.<ref name="google3" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cwkrv-yn57MC&q=Shaul+Ladany&pg=PT18 |title=Warrior Elite: 31 Heroic Special-Ops Missions from the Raid on Son Tay to the Killing of Osama Bin Laden |author=Nigel Cawthorne |publisher=Ulysses Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-56975-969-1 |access-date=February 2, 2011}}</ref>

<blockquote>Early in the morning somebody wakens me, I open my eyes and that's when my roommate from the Mexico Olympic Games says, 'Get up, Monie was killed by Arab terrorists'. I knew him as a joker but that sounded too serious, so without thinking much, in my pyjamas, I went to the entrance door of the apartment, opened it and looked around. I have seen guards from the village and they were speaking to somebody that was standing in the entrance to apartment number one. I have noticed his dark skin and the hat and I listened, still without being afraid or thinking that something is very dangerous for me, and the guards are asking the permission to let the Red Cross enter apartment one and provide some aid to a wounded person and the man, he refuse. They said, 'Why should you be inhumane?', and the man replied something like either, the Jews or the Israelis 'are not humane either.' At that point I understood that something is going on and I closed the door.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite web |title=Shootings at the Munich Olympics, Sporting Witness – BBC World Service |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00k2mxv |website=BBC |access-date=February 16, 2017}}</ref></blockquote>

Another team member took Ladany to the window and pointed to the blood stains outside the apartment. They decided to leave the apartment via the rear of their apartment that backed onto a lawn, despite knowing that they would be visible to the terrorists.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" />

<blockquote>The terrorists from the second floor, from apartment number one, had a clear view from the window and we moved out, walked along the lawn without running or zigzagging but in strong and confident legs. Maybe it was stupid? But we had done so....we left the apartment through the lawn.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /></blockquote>

Surviving terrorist Jamal Al-Gashey revealed that Ladany was spotted racing away from the building leading the terrorists to believe that they were too late to take any hostages in Apartment number two, though several were still inside the apartment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reeve |first1=Simon |title=One day in September : the full story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and the Israeli revenge operation "Wrath of God" |date=2000 |publisher=Arcade |location=New York |isbn=1-55970-547-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781559706032/page/10 10] |edition=1st U.S. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781559706032/page/10}}</ref> Ladany ran around to the building housing the U.S. team and banged on the ground-floor apartment belonging to the team coaches.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reeve |first1=Simon |title=One day in September : the full story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and the Israeli revenge operation "Wrath of God" |date=2000 |publisher=Arcade |location=New York |isbn=1-55970-547-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781559706032/page/10 10] |edition=1st U.S. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781559706032/page/10}}</ref> He awoke the American track coach [[Bill Bowerman]], who alerted the German police. Bowerman called for the U.S. Marines to come and protect American Jewish Olympians swimmer [[Mark Spitz]] and javelin thrower [[Bill Schmidt]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Prefontaine |first=Steve |title=Leading Men |journal=Runner's World |issue=April 2006 |page=104}}</ref> Ladany was the first person to spread the alert as to the attack, and was one of only five Israeli team members to escape. Weinberg and 10 other Israeli Olympic athletes and coaches were kidnapped and killed by the terrorists.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="google4" />

Several television, radio, and newspaper reports listed Ladany as one of those killed.<ref name="independent1" /> One headline stated: "Ladany Could Not Escape his Fate in Germany for a Second Time".<ref name="independent1" /> Ladany recalled later:

<blockquote>The impact did not hit me at the time, when we were in Munich. It was when we arrived back in Israel. At the airport in Lod there was a huge crowd – maybe 20,000, people – and each one of us, the survivors, stood by one of the coffins on the runway. Some friends came up to me and tried to kiss me and hug me as if I was almost a ghost that came back alive. It was then that I really grasped what had happened and the emotion hit me.<ref name="independent1" /></blockquote>

Three Black September members survived and were arrested at a Munich prison, but the West German authorities decided to release them the following month in exchange for the hostages of hijacked [[Lufthansa Flight 615]]<ref name="google8">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-wwPNjSnxcYC&q=lufthansa+615++olympics&pg=PA439 |title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism |author=Peter Chalk |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-313-30895-6 |access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref><ref name=haaretz>{{cite news |last=Greenfeter |first=Yael |title=Israel in shock as Munich killers freed |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/israel-in-shock-as-munich-killers-freed-1.322811 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105104637/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/israel-in-shock-as-munich-killers-freed-1.322811 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 5, 2010 |access-date=July 26, 2013 |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |date=November 4, 2010}}</ref> Two of the released Black September members were later killed, as were others who organized the Munich massacre, during a [[Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre|campaign of assassinations by the Israeli Mossad]].<ref name="autogenerated1" /><ref name="google8" /> In 1992, speaking of the massacre, Ladany said: "It's with me all the time, and I remember every detail".<ref>{{cite news |author=Joel Greenberg |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/06/sports/olympics-memory-of-massacre-is-kept-alive.html |title=Olympics; Memory of Massacre Is Kept Alive |newspaper=New York Times |date=September 6, 1992 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> He visits the graves of his murdered teammates in Tel Aviv every year, on September 6.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=259154 |title=Munich attack survivors return with mixed feelings |newspaper=Jerusalem Post |date=February 23, 2012 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref>

In 2012, the [[International Olympic Committee]] decided to not hold a [[minute of silence]] before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games, to honor the 11 Israeli Olympians who were killed 40 years prior. [[Jacques Rogge]], the IOC President, said it would be "inappropriate". Speaking of the decision, Ladany commented: "I do not understand. I do not understand, and I do not accept it."<ref name="autogenerated1" />

In September 2022 he returned to Munich, Germany for the commemorations of the Israeli deaths, at the Olympic Village and Furstenfeldbruck airfield, where he wore the same Israeli Olympic team blazer he wore in 1972.<ref name="espn" />

=== Later career === Ladany returned to competition two months later, against the wishes of the Israeli track and field authorities. The specialist in [[ultra long distance walking]] competed in the 1972 World Championships, in [[Lugano]], Switzerland.<ref name="haaretz3">{{cite news |last=Sagi |first=Yehoshua |url=https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/fame-was-a-long-walk-away-and-he-made-it-1.98773 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924233030/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/fame-was-a-long-walk-away-and-he-made-it-1.98773 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |title=Fame was a long walk away, and he made it |newspaper=Haaretz |date=September 1, 2003 |access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref> He won the [[gold medal]] in the [[100-km walk]],<ref name="espn" /> in a time of 9:31:00.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9NElAAAAIBAJ&pg=778,147943&dq=shaul+ladany&hl=en |author=Al Levine |title=World will Forget Munich – not Everyone is Jewish |newspaper=The Miami News |date=March 1, 1973 |access-date=February 24, 2013 |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411015246/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9NElAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lfMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=778,147943&dq=shaul+ladany&hl=en |url-status=dead}}</ref>

At the [[1973 Maccabiah Games]], he won the [[20 kilometres race walk|20-km]] and 50-km walks.<ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="google7" /> In 1976, Ladany set the U.S. record in the 75-kilometer walk for the second year in a row.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qiBOAAAAIBAJ&pg=3602,4924554&dq=shaul+ladany&hl=en |title=Ladany Walks to U.S. Mark |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |date=April 12, 1976 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> He became the first person to win both the American Open and American Masters (40 years and over) 75-kilometer walking championships.<ref name="jewsinsports1" /> He repeated the feat in 1977 and 1981 (by which time the event had become a 100-km race).<ref name="jewsinsports1" />

He won the Israeli national walking championship 28 times from 1963 to 1988.<ref name="haaretz1" /> He won the U.S. national walking championship six times (from 1973 to 1981; including the 75-km championships in 1974–77, and the 100-km title in 1974), won the Belgian national walking championship twice (1971 and 1972), won the national walking championship in Switzerland (1972), and won the South Africa national walking championship (1975).<ref name="jewsinsports1" /> His personal best in the 50-kilometer walk is 4:17:06 (1972).<ref name="sports-reference1" /> He has continued to compete with considerable success at the masters level into his seventies.<ref name="sports-reference1" /> In 2006, he became the first 70-year-old to walk 100 miles in under 24 hours, setting a world record in Ohio of 21 hours, 45 minutes, 34 seconds.<ref name="nytimes1" /><ref>{{cite news |author=Nancy Harrison |url=http://www.sandiegojewishworld.com/2007-sdjw/2007-06-SDJW/2007-06-09/2007-06-09.htm |title=Olympics movement honors Israeli race walker |publisher=[[San Diego Jewish World]] |access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref>

In 2012, at the age of 75, he was still competing in 35 events a year, and claimed to walk "[...] a minimum of 15 kilometers a day", and participates in "[...] a four-day, 300-kilometer walk from Paris to [[Tubize]], near Brussels."<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="thejewishweek1" /><ref name="thejewishweek2"/>

On every birthday he walks his age in kilometers, so on his birthday in 2012 he went on a 76-km walk in Israel's southern [[Negev desert]].<ref name="autogenerated1" /> After reaching age 80 he elected to cut the distance, walking half his years to celebrate.<ref name="espn" />

He estimates he has walked 6,000–7,000 miles a year, for a lifetime total of over half a million miles.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/la-longue-marche-de-shaul-ladany-rescape-de-l-attentat-des-jo-de-munich-en-1972-07-06-2012-1470659_24.php |title=La longue marche de Shaul Ladany, rescapé de l'attentat des JO de Munich en 1972 |language=fr |magazine=Le Point |date=July 6, 1972 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref> In his career, Ladany has never had a coach.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1298685541.html?dids=1298685541:1298685541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+29%2C+2007&author=Yocheved+Miriam+Russo&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=The+extraordinary+grit+of+the+long-distance+walker&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411160020/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/1298685541.html?dids=1298685541:1298685541&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+29,+2007&author=Yocheved+Miriam+Russo&pub=Jerusalem+Post&desc=The+extraordinary+grit+of+the+long-distance+walker&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 11, 2013 |author=Yocheved Miriam Russo |title=The extraordinary grit of the long-distance walker |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=June 29, 2007 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref> When asked what he enjoyed most about walking, he answered "Finishing".<ref>{{cite news |last=Sinai |first=Allon |url=https://www.jpost.com/Sports/Article.aspx?id=212351 |title=A stroll down memory lane with Shaul Ladany |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=March 16, 2011 |access-date=February 25, 2013}}</ref> Ladany completed 83&nbsp;km on his birthday in 2019, but was unable to do 84 in 2020 due to [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>Albertson, Keith. "Racing through a life of problems and solutions." ''ISE Magazine''. November 2020. pp. 39-43.</ref>

== Academic career == In his academic life, Ladany was a [[Assistant professor|Lecturer]] of at the [[Tel Aviv University]] Graduate School of Business and, for over three decades, a Professor of [[Industrial Engineering and Management]] at [[Ben Gurion University of the Negev]], where he was formerly Chairman of the department and is now emeritus professor.<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="google1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="google9" /> He has had visiting appointments at [[Columbia University]], [[University of California, Irvine]], [[Georgia Tech]], [[Emory University]], [[Rutgers University]], [[Baruch College]] of the [[City University of New York]], [[Temple University]], [[University of Cape Town]], [[Science Center Berlin]], [[Singapore University]], and [[CSIRO]] (Melbourne).<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="google9" />

He focuses on [[quality control]] and [[applied statistics]].<ref name="haaretz3" /> He has also authored over a dozen scholarly books and 110 scientific articles.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="google1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /><ref name="nytimes1" /> He holds U.S. [[patent]]s for eight mechanical designs.<ref name="haaretz1" /><ref name="jpost1" />

== Philately == Ladany is a [[philatelist]]. His collection of [[telegraph stamp]]s and associated material was sold by [[Spink & Son]] in Lugano in 2015.<ref>"Forthcoming event", ''Spink Insider'', No. 23 (Winter 2015), pp. 60-62.</ref>

== Autobiography == In 1997, his autobiography was published in Hebrew, entitled ''The Walk to the Olympics''.<ref name="sports-reference1" /><ref name="jewsinsports1" /> In 2008, it was published in English, entitled ''King of the Road: The Autobiography of an Israeli Scientist and a World Record-Holding Race Walker'' (Gefen Publishing).<ref name="haaretz1" /> In 2012, a biography was written about him in Italian by Andrea Schiavon, and published under the title: ''Cinque cerchi e una stella'' – ''Shaul Ladany, da Bergen-Belsen a Monaco '72'' (ADD Editore, Torino).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bfmM3WGQjEC&q=%22Cinque+cerchi+e+una+stella%22+%E2%80%93+%22Shaul+Ladany,+da+Bergen-Belsen+a+Monaco+%2772%22 |title=Cinque cerchie e una stella. Shaul Ladany da Bergen-Belsen a Monaco |language=it |author=Andrea Schiavon |publisher=ADD Editore, Torino |year=2012 |isbn=9788896873922 |access-date=March 6, 2013}}</ref>

== Hall of fame and awards == In 2007, Ladany was awarded the [[Pierre de Coubertin Medal]] for outstanding service to the Olympic Movement.<ref name="thejewishweek2" /><ref name="haaretz2" /><ref name="Russo2010">{{cite news |last=Russo |first=Yocheved Miriam |title=A history of Israel in silver and bronze |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=March 26, 2010 |url=https://www.jpost.com/local-israel/tel-aviv-and-center/a-history-of-israel-in-silver-and-bronze |access-date=August 20, 2024}}</ref> He was cited as a special person with "unusual outstanding sports achievements during a span covering over four decades."<ref name="haaretz2" />

Ladany said he would set up a 10,000[[New Israeli Shekel|₪]] Olympic race-walking fund, and offer 1,000₪ to any Israeli who can complete the 50-kilometer race in less than five hours.<ref name="haaretz2" />

In 2008, the Israeli Industrial Engineering Association awarded Ladany with its Life Achievement award.<ref name="thejewishweek2" /> He was inducted into the [[International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]] in 2012.<ref name="jewishsports1" />

In 2023 the Jupiter Trojan asteroid with the temporary designation 2001 UV<sub>209</sub> was named (247341) Shaulladany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WGSBN Bulletin |url=https://www.iau.org/static/publications/wgsbn-bulletins/wgsbn-bulletin-2305.pdf}}</ref>

== Selected publications == * [https://books.google.com/books?id=pJUpYAAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany The Structure of the Printed Hebrew Language and Its Efficiency in Transmitting Information], by Shaul P. Ladany, Tel Aviv University, Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration (1969) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=MHoPkgAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany The Interaction of Linear Programming and Value Analysis]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Tel Aviv University, Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration (1969) * [https://books.google.com/books?id=ed33cQAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Graphical Determination of Single Fraction-Defective Sampling Plans for Individual Small Lots], by Shaul P. Ladany, Tel Aviv University, Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration (1970) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=8XdXAAAAMAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany English-Hebrew dictionary of statistical terminology]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Israel Institute of Productivity (1970) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hIxHcgAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Determination of Optimal Compressed Limit Gaging Sampling Plans]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Tel Aviv University, Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration (1971) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=H_cZcgAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Efficient Sampling by Artificial Attributes]'', by Avraham Beja and Shaul P. Ladany, Tel Aviv University, Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration (1973–76) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=011fHAAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Optimal Car Rental Policy]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business (1974) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=WjwTAQAAIAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Management science in sports]'', Robert Engel Machol and Shaul P. Ladany, North Holland Pub. Co. (1976) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YaPuAAAAMAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Optimal strategies in sports]'', by Shaul P. Ladany and Robert Engel Machol, North Holland Pub. Co. (1977) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=YaXkcQAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Optimal Segmentation of Walls Built on Slopes]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Internat. Inst. für Management und Verwaltung (1978) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LQOWGwAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Optimal Hotel Room Pricing Policy]'', by Avner Arbel and Shaul P. Ladany, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University (1986) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hxSUGwAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Optimal Cruise-liner Passenger Cabin Pricing Policy]'', by Avner Arbel and Shaul P. Ladany, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University (1990) * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0nVYAAAAYAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany King of the Road: The Autobiography of an Israeli Scientist and a World Record-Holding Race Walker]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Gefen Publishing (2008)

=== Philately === * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sHTStgAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Maximization of Revenue from Sale of United Nations Postage-stamps for Philatelic Purposes]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Columbia university, 1968 * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fXstHQAACAAJ&q=Shaul+Ladany Greeting Telegrams of the Jewish National Fund]'', by Shaul P. Ladany, Society of Israel Philatelists Educational Fund (1995)

== See also == * [[List of world records in athletics]] * [[List of Jews in sports#Track and field|List of select Jewish track and field athletes]] * [[List of Israeli records in athletics]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons}} * {{Olympedia|name=Shaul Ladany}} * {{Olympics.com|saul-paul-ladani|Shaul Paul Ladany|org_id=shaul-ladany|org_name=Shaul Ladany|org_archive=20161007004939}} * {{DNB-Portal|109491955}} * ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_bfmM3WGQjEC&q=Shaul+Ladany Cinque cerchie e una stella. Shaul LAdany da Bergen-Belsen a Monaco]'', by Andrea Schiavon, ADD Editore (2012) * [http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Pages/news/shaul_ladany.aspx "Prof. Shaul Ladany elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame"], Ben Gurion University of the Negev * [http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/essayunddiskurs/1855678/ ''"Ich wusste "dass für einen Israeli immer Gefahren lauern" München 1972 – Sport und Krieg'' (2/2)]: Der Überlebende Shaul Paul Ladany im Gespräch mit Jochanan Shelliem, [[Deutschlandfunk]] vom 2. September 2012 (ger)

{{s-start}} {{s-ach|rec}} {{succession box | before = . (1935) | title = Men's [[50-Mile Walk]] World Record Holder | years = April 1972 – present | after = incumbent }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{Pierre de Coubertin Medal recipients}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladany, Shaul}} [[Category:1936 births]] [[Category:Academic staff of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]] [[Category:Academic staff of Tel Aviv University]] [[Category:Academic staff of the National University of Singapore]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Cape Town]] [[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Athletes from Belgrade]] [[Category:Baruch College faculty]] [[Category:Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivors]] [[Category:Columbia Business School alumni]] [[Category:Columbia University faculty]] [[Category:Competitors at the 1969 Maccabiah Games]] [[Category:Competitors at the 1973 Maccabiah Games]] [[Category:CSIRO people]] [[Category:Emory University faculty]] [[Category:Georgia Tech faculty]] [[Category:International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:Israeli industrial engineers]] [[Category:Israeli men race walkers]] [[Category:Israeli mechanical engineers]] [[Category:Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent]] [[Category:Israeli philatelists]] [[Category:Jerusalem School of Business Administration alumni]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Israel]] [[Category:Maccabiah Games medalists in athletics]] [[Category:Munich massacre]] [[Category:Olympic athletes for Israel]] [[Category:Recipients of the Pierre de Coubertin medal]] [[Category:Rutgers University faculty]] [[Category:Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni]] [[Category:Temple University faculty]] [[Category:University of California, Irvine faculty]] [[Category:World record holders in the sport of athletics]] [[Category:World record holders in masters athletics]] [[Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics]] [[Category:Yugoslav emigrants to Israel]] [[Category:Yugoslav Jews]] [[Category:20th-century Israeli sportsmen]] [[Category:People from Omer, Israel]]