Olaf Beyer (born 4 August 1957 in Grimma) is a former East German 800 metres runner.
Olaf Beyer (born 4 August 1957 in Grimma) is a former East German 800 metres runner.
He won the gold medal at the 1978 European Championships in Prague. In that race he beat the future world-record holder Sebastian Coe and the future Olympic Champion Steve Ovett both from the UK. Beyer's time of 1:43.84 made him temporarily the fourth-fastest 800m runner of all time. [1] Beyer himself explained to the British sports journalist and writer Pat Butcher that he won that surprising championship because for the first and only time in his career, he had been able to train for the previous year free from injuries. He also ran intelligently, not taking the lead until the final tens of metres, but at the same time following Coe and Ovett closely. Ultimately, in Beyer's opinion, he was in a good shape that day and could thus defeat even Ovett, who was known as a sharp kicker (see Pat Butcher, The Perfect Distance: Ovett&Coe: The Record-Breaking Rivalry, London: Weidenfeld&Nicolson, 2004).
In the 1978 European Athletics Championships, he also participated in 1,500 metres where he placed ninth (see, for example, "European Championships Prague" / EM-Praha, Tapio Pekola et al., eds., Kaarina, Finland: "Runner" / Juoksija magazine, 1978). After 1978, he continued his competitive running career until at least 1982, but he never won a major international championship again. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he was surprisingly eliminated in the 800-metre semifinals, and he placed seventh in the 1982 European Athletics Championships 800-metre final (see, for example, "The Moscow Olympic Book" / Moskovan Olympiakirja, Tapio Pekola et al., eds., Helsinki, Finland: "Runner" / Juoksija magazine, 1980; Markku Siukonen and Matti Ahola, eds., "The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, Jyväskylä, Finland: Sports Publications Ltd. / Sportti-Kustannus Oy, 1990).
Beyer has remained a keen and successful fun runner since the end of his track career. [2]
Stephen Cram, is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", after his home town, Cram set world records in the 1,500 m, 2,000 m, and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985. He was the first man to run 1,500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1,500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1,500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe,, often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.
Stephen Michael James Ovett, is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and set 5 world records for 1500 metres and the mile run and a world record at two miles. He won 45 consecutive 1500 and mile races from 1977 to 1980.
Bronisław Malinowski was a Polish track and field athlete, who is best known for winning a gold medal in the 3000 m steeplechase race during the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Soviet Union and the silver four years earlier in Montreal. One year after his last Olympic appearance, Malinowski was killed in a car accident in Grudziądz, at the age of 30.
Alberto Cova is a retired Italian long-distance track athlete, winner of the 10,000 m at the 1984 Summer Olympics and 1983 World Championships.
John Treacy is an Irish Olympian and former athlete, now a sporting administrator.
David Robert Moorcroft is a former middle-distance and long-distance runner from England, and former world record holder for 5,000 metres. His athletic career spanned the late-1970s and 1980s. He subsequently served as the Chief Executive of UK Athletics from 1997 to 2007. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1983 and promoted to an Officer (OBE) in 1999, in both cases for services to athletics. In March 2023, he was appointed a Deputy lieutenant of the West Midlands.
Markus Ryffel is a former long-distance runner from Switzerland who won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Thomas Wessinghage is a German former middle- and long-distance runner who won the 1982 European Championships' final over 5000 metres beating the British world-record holder David Moorcroft. Because he was already thirty at the time, and had been an international-level runner for a decade, this victory was a long-awaited one for him. He admitted that he decided to run the 5,000 metres instead of the 1,500 metres, because he lost to Ovett and Coe so often in the shorter distance. The fairly slow pace of the 1982 European Athletics Championships 5,000-metre final favoured Wessinghage, because he was in top form - having set a European record at 2,000 metres shortly before the Championships - and because he was the fastest 1,500-metre runner in the final, having run that distance in 3 minutes 31.6 seconds in 1980. Shortly after he started his final sprint with over 250 metres to go, Wessinghage moved into a decisive lead, stretching it into five metres by 4,800 metres and almost doubling it by 4,900 metres.
Agberto Conceição Guimarães is a former Brazilian middle distance runner who competed at the international level in the 1980s. He set a personal best 800 metres time of 1:43.63 min in Koblenz 1984, a performance which made him temporarily the second-fastest South American 800m runner ever.
Jürgen Straub is a former East German middle distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres.
Hans-Peter Ferner is a (West) German former middle-distance runner who won the gold medal over 800 m at the 1982 European Championships in Athletics in Athens where he unexpectedly defeated world-record holder Sebastian Coe. Those were Ferner's second and last European Athletics Championships, because he had competed already in the 1978 European Championships in Prague, where he had been eliminated in the 800-metre heats or semifinals. Coe had suffered from injuries and a glandular sickness which made him underachieve in Athens.
Venanzio Ortis is an Italian retired long-distance runner who won two medals at the 1978 European Championships.
Christoph Herle is a retired West German long-distance runner who specialized in the 10000 metres and cross-country running. His first major international track race occurred in the 1978 European Athletics Championships in Prague, former Czechoslovakia, where he placed fourteenth in the 5,000-metre final. He ran slightly better in the 1982 European Athletics Championships 5,000-metre final in Athens, Greece, placing thirteenth. Herle ran best in 1983 and 1984, placing eighth at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 10,000 metres in Helsinki, Finland, and fifth at the final in the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres final in Los Angeles, the United States. He never managed to break through to the very top of international long-distance runners, however. His final major international championships race was the 1986 European Athletics Championships 10,000-metre race in Stuttgart, then West Germany, where he placed a disappointed fifteenth.
The men's javelin throw event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union had 18 competitors in one qualifying group. The qualifying round was staged on July 26, with the automatic qualifying mark set at 80.00 metres (262.47 ft). Twelve advanced to the final, which took place the following day.
The men's 800 metres was an event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. There were a total number of 41 participating athletes from 28 nations, with six qualifying heats, three semifinals, and the final held on Saturday July 26, 1980. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Steve Ovett of Great Britain, the nation's first gold medal in the men's 800 metres since winning four in a row from 1920 to 1932. It was Great Britain's sixth overall title in the event.
These are the official results of the men's 50 kilometres walk event at the 1983 World Championships held on 12 August 1983 in Helsinki, Finland.
These are the official results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The final was held on 31 August 1978.
Anatoliy Vasilyevich Solomin is a former Soviet Ukrainian race walker. Solomin competed in men's 20 km walk at the 1980 Summer Olympics and contended for the gold medal, but was disqualified from the lead shortly before the finish. He was European indoor champion in men's 5000 m walk in 1983 and briefly held the 20 km world best. He was born in Komarovka in Penza Oblast.
Detlef Wagenknecht is a German former middle-distance runner. Representing East Germany, he was a finalist in men's 800 metres at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1982 European Championships and placed third at the 1981 IAAF World Cup.
European Athletics Championships champions in men's 800 metres | |
|---|---|
|
| Authority control: People |
|---|
 | This biographical article relating to East German athletics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
