Juan Carlos Zabala

Juan Carlos Zabala ( born October 11, 1911 in Rosario, † January 24, 1983 in Buenos Aires ) was an Argentine long-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist in the marathon of 1932.

He first operational football, basketball and swimming, before 1927 his later coach Alexander Stirling met. At club level, he stepped to Sportivo Barracas.

End of October 1931, he won the Kosice Marathon, and ten days later he set a world record over 30 km ( 1:42:30,4 h).

His sporting highlight was the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Zabala ran almost the entire distance in the leading group. Were to run as only 4 km, he broke away from the group and came 20 seconds before the British Sam Ferris to the finish.

At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, finished sixth in the 10,000 -meter run, but could not defend his marathon title. He took the lead after the start, but was overtaken at km 30 of the later gold and silver medalists Kitei Son ( Son Kee -chung ) and Ernie Harper and gave shortly thereafter.