Gustav Wegner (4 January 1903 – 7 June 1942) was a German

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

. He was the first ever European champion in the pole vault and the first German to clear four metres in the event. He was a five-time national champion at the German Athletics Championships and a stadium near

Northeim Northeim (; nds, Nuurten) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the district of Northeim, with, in 2011, a population of 29,000. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road. History Northeim is first mentioned in 800 in a document r ...

was named in his honour.

Career

Born in Jarocin,

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (german: Provinz Posen, pl, Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920. Posen was established in 1848 following the Greater Poland Uprising as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen, w ...

, he grew up in a wealthy, educated family and studied up to university level. He graduated in 1927 from the Prussian Academy for Physical Education (german: Preussischen Hochschule für Leibesübungen) and trained in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

, swimming and rowing.Klaus Amrhein: Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte der Deutschen Leichtathletik 1898–2005. 2 Bände. Darmstadt 2005 publiziert über Deutsche Leichtathletik Promotion- und Projektgesellschaft Wegner was the most prominent early pole vaulters in Germany. Competing for

VfL Halle 1896 VfL Halle 1896 is a German football club from the city of Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt. History The oldest club in the city of Halle was founded as ''Hallescher Fußballclub von 1896'' on 16 July 1896. ''HFC'' was one of a dozen clubs tha ...

, he was a five-time national champion in the discipline at the German Athletics Championships from 1929 to 1934. He was runner-up nationally to Julius Müller in 1928 and 1932. His improvements on the German record were most notable for the fact that he became the nation's first athlete to go over the four-metre barrier. His first national record was in June 1929 and bettered this with a vault of a month later. This was followed by his historic clearance of in 1930 and his final improvement of the record was to in 1931 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Wegner's first and only major medal at an international tournament came at the inaugural

1934 European Athletics Championships The 1st European Athletics Championships were held in Turin, Italy, at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Stadio Benito Mussolini between 7 and 9 September 1934. A contemporaneous report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Results Medalists ...

, which was held in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. Germany's sole entrant in the event, he cleared four metres to defeat Sweden's

Bo Ljungberg Bo Alexander Ljungberg (21 November 1911 – 19 March 1984) was a Swedish athlete. He won two silver medals in the pole vault at the European Championships and competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics as both a pole vaulter and a triple jumper. Care ...

on count-back and become the first ever European champion in the pole vault. Wegner was succeeded by Karl Sutter, a fellow German, at the next edition in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

Gustav-Wegner-Stadion Northeim by 2eight-9150

He competed simultaneously in the pole vault and decathlon and although he never won a championship title in his secondary discipline, he ranked within the top-20 decathletes in the world five times during the period from 1926 to 1932. His personal best score for the decathlon was 7351 points set in

Leuna Leuna is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, eastern Germany, south of Merseburg and Halle, on the river Saale. The town is known for the ''Leunawerke'', at 13 km2 one of the biggest chemical industrial complexes in Germany, where a very wide range of ...

in 1932.Gustav Wegner
Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2014-10-18. In the mid-1930s he began teaching at

Pforta Pforta, or Schulpforta, is a school located in Pforta monastery, a former Cistercian monastery (1137–1540), near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The site has been a school since the 16th century. Notable past ...

, a prestigious school near

Naumburg Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...

. Upon the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he joined the army and made the rank of lieutenant. He was killed in the course of duty in Taborki on the Eastern Front fighting the Soviets for Nazi Germany. The Gustav Wegner Stadium in the German city of

is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wegner, Gustav 1903 births 1942 deaths German male pole vaulters German decathletes European Athletics Championships medalists German national athletics champions German Army personnel killed in World War II People from Jarocin People from the Province of Posen German Army officers of World War II

Career

See also

References