Damian Kallabis (born 10 June 1973 in

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional cap ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) is a retired German runner who specialized in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

. In 1997 his personal best time was 8:37.35 minutes. The next year he sensationally won the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, lowering his personal best time to 8:13.10 minutes. He then won the steeplechase event at the

1998 IAAF World Cup 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

. In August 1999 he ran in 8:09.48 minutes in Zurich, beating the old German record of

Hagen Melzer Hagen Melzer (born 16 June 1959, in Bautzen) is a former East German middle and long-distance runner who specialised in the 3000 m steeplechase. He won the gold medal at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart. A year later he won t ...

. This German record still stands. He finished fourth at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

the same year, and fifteenth at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. He became German steeplechase champion in 1998 and 2000, representing the team

SCC Berlin SCC Berlin is a German sports club based in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin and founded in 1902 as ''Charlottenburger Sport-Club 1902''. In 1911, they merged with ''Sport-Club Westen 05'' and changed their club colors from yellow and blue ...

. He later switched team to

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

.German championships, men's 3000 m steeplechase
/ref>

References

External links

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1973 births Living people German male long-distance runners German male steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Germany European Athletics Championships medalists {{Germany-middledistance-athletics-bio-stub