University of Vermont Athletics

Albert L. Gutterson 1912 - Track and Field

Albert Gutterson, who won the broad jump in the 1912 Olympic Games, once remarked at a sports dinner that he "barely qualified" for the honor because of sore heels. But the 1912 Vermont graduate, and 1969 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, set an Olympic long jump record in Stockholm, Sweden that year with a leap that fell short of 25 feet by a fraction of an inch.

A native of Springfield, Vt., Gutterson is the lone track and field athlete from UVM to win a gold medal in the Olympic Games. At the University of Vermont where he was a member of several campus honoraries, Gutterson spent four years becoming the greatest track athlete in the school's history. His most impressive achievement came in a dual meet against the University of Maine: victories in the broad jump, high jump, discus, low hurdles and two sprints, and once second place finish, for an incredible 33 point performance.

But the Olympics capped his great career. As he once put it, "That was a great meet I never will forget. The best athletes in the world were there, the field was wonderful, competition was keen, many records were broken, ad I made many friends." When he returned home, he began a long a distinguished career with Springfield's machine tool industry, culminating in his election in 1950 as president of the Lovejoy Tool Co. in Springfield.

Al Gutterson was a University Trustee from 1954 to 1960, and has been honored by his alma mater with the "varsity letter in life award," the Distinguished Alumni Service Award, and an honorary degree. The hockey arena at the university's fine athletic-physical education complex is named to honor his achievements and his generosity and service to his alma mater. Gutterson passed away in Burlington on April 6, 1965.

Sports Illustrated selected Gutterson as one of the Top 50 Vermont athletes of the 20th Century. The magazine's editors composed a list of the "Top 50 Athletes" in each state in its December 27, 1999 issue to commemorate the millennium. Gutterson ranked fifth among the Top 50 Vermonters.