Gerd Wessig (, ; born 16 July 1959 in
Lübz
Lübz is a town in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated on the river Elde, 12 km northeast of Parchim. It is home to the Mecklenburgische Brauerei Lübz, the largest local employer and o ...
,
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
) was an
East German
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 ...
high jumper who won the gold medal in the
1980 Summer Olympics, the first man ever to set a world record in the high jump at the Olympics.
Early life
Wessig, a professional chef, trained with the
SC Traktor Schwerin under trainer
Bernd Jahn. He attended the John Brinckmann School in Goldberg.
Wessig was 2.01 metres tall and, while he was competing, weighed 88 kilograms (6' 7", 194 lbs). Shortly before the 1980 Olympics, he surprisingly became East German champion, setting a new personal best result of 2.30 metres and was subsequently nominated for the East German Olympic team.
1980 Olympics
At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, the 21-year-old was thus amongst the mild favourites, but the heavy favorite was the defending champion,
Jacek Wszoła
Jacek Roman Wszoła (born 30 December 1956 in Warsaw, Poland) is a retired Polish high jumper best known for winning gold and silver medals at the 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics respectively. Wszoła is also a one-time world record holder with t ...
, of Poland: at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Wszola had established a new Olympic record of 2.25 metres. Early in the 1980 outdoor season, Wszola set a new world record of 2.35 on Sunday 25 May (in Eberstadt, Germany), and this mark was tied the next day by 18-year-old West German
Dietmar Mögenburg
Dietmar Mögenburg (, ; born 15 August 1961) is a (West) German former high jumper who won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and at the 1982 European Championships in Athens.
Career
On 26 May 1980, at the age of 18, Mögenb ...
, at a competition in Rehlingen, Germany. Because of the western nations' boycott of the Moscow Olympics, Mögenburg did not compete. Of the 16 finalists in the men's high jump (all having qualified with jumps of 2.21 on 31 July), thirteen used the Fosbury flop style, and three used the classic straddle.
Wessig not only out-dueled Wszoła for the gold during the finals on 1 August, the two shattered the 1976 mark several times, with clearances at 2.27, 2.29, and 2.31. Wessig began the competition at 2.15, and was flawless until 2.29, when he needed two attempts. That proved to be the decisive height: of the 7 men who cleared the then-new Olympic record of 2.27, only 4 managed to scale 2.29. Those four, the Polish champion versus the entire East German team of Wessig, 18-year-old sensation
Jörg Freimuth, and 22-year-old
Henry Lauterbach
Henry Lauterbach (born 22 October 1957 in Buttstädt, Bezirk Erfurt) is a retired East Germany, East German high jumper and long jumper.
In the high jump he finished fourth at the 1978 European Championships in Athletics, 1978 European Championsh ...
, would now battle for the medals. With the other three men having all cleared 2.29 on their first attempts, Wessig's first miss at that height dropped him to fourth place, out of the medals. But, he leaped back into first place, all alone, with his first attempt clearance of 2.31.
Wessig then out-jumped Wszoła at 2.33 to secure the gold medal. Wessig cleared on his second attempt, with Wszoła just barely brushing the bar off on the third and final attempt. Wessig continued to jump, alone, setting a new
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
with his jump of 2.36 metres. He set the new record on his second attempt, with a sensational clearance. Wessig, having taken 11 jumps during the competition through 2.36, then took three attempts at 2.38. He thereby became the first high jumper who had managed to improve on the men's high jump world record at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
. The previous world record holder, Wszoła, won the silver medal. Wessig's effort in Moscow was the acme of his career; his world record would stand for three years, and the Olympic record would not be broken until the 1988 games in Seoul.
Later life
After the Olympic Games, Wessig tried his luck as a
decathlete (best performance: 8015 points, 23 May 1983 in
Neubrandenburg
Neubrandenburg (lit. ''New Brandenburg'', ) is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland.
The city is famous for its ...
; the equivalent of 7974 points according to the scale introduced in 1985). He turned back to the high jump following frequent injuries. In 1985, he came in second at the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
. In 1986, he reached seventh place at the
European Championships. He became East German champion again 1988 and 1989.
Since the end of his active athletics career, he has been running an enterprise in
Lübstorf-Rugensee, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which sells sport equipment, sport and leisure systems, as well as park and garden systems. He married the long jumper
Christine Schima (best performance: 6.96 metres, 1984; seventh place at the
1982 European Championships).
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessig, Gerd
1959 births
Living people
People from Lübz
East German male high jumpers
East German decathletes
Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for East Germany
Olympic athletes of East Germany
World record setters in athletics (track and field)
Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania