Eckhard Lesse (born 1 December 1948) is a German former

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. Lesse represented

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

and won silver in men's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

at the 1974 European Championships.

Career

Lesse represented East Germany at the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki, placing 24th in the 10,000 m. Lesse broke the East German marathon record for the first time in April 1972, running 2:13:19.4 in

Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 28th largest city of Germany as ...

; he was the only East German selected for the 1972 Olympic marathon, where he placed 25th in 2:22:49.6. Lesse broke the national record again in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in June 1973, running 2:12:24. Later that year he placed third in the strong

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on its ...

, behind Olympic champion

Frank Shorter Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the ac ...

and Canada's Brian Armstrong; ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, ...

'' ranked Lesse the world's second best marathoner that year. At the 1974 European Championships in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Lesse placed second to Great Britain's Ian Thompson in 2:14:57.4. He placed second to Shorter in the 1974 Fukuoka Marathon, his time of 2:12:02.4 being another East German record; that year, he was ranked third in the world, behind Thompson and Shorter. Lesse was ranked in the world's top ten for a final time in 1975, when he placed fifth in Fukuoka in 2:12:42.6. Lesse remained active in sports after his athletic career, and was president of his sports club,

SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg is a handball club from Magdeburg, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History During the time in the GDR, the club won 10 national championships (1970, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991) and ...

, in late 2009 and early 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesse, Eckhard 1948 births Living people People from Ballenstedt East German male long-distance runners East German male marathon runners Sportspeople from Saxony-Anhalt Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists SC Magdeburg athletes People from Bezirk Halle