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Gerd Wessig (, ; born 16 July 1959 in Lübz,
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 p ...
) 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 jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...
er who won the gold medal in the
1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
, 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, 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, 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, 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 organizati ...
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 var ...
. 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 The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or � ...
(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 i ...
; 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 ...
. 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

* * * {{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