Hartwig Gauder (10 November 1954 – 22 April 2020) was a German

race walker Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...

who won a gold medal in the Men's 50 kilometres walk at 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 ...

in Moscow. Born in West Germany, his family moved to

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 ...

in 1960 when they inherited property at

Ilmenau Ilmenau () is a town in Thuringia, central Germany. It is the largest town within the Ilm district with a population of 38,600, while the district capital is Arnstadt. Ilmenau is located approximately south of Erfurt and north of Nuremberg w ...

. Gauder thus competed for East Germany. In 1996 Gauder started suffering from a virus infection of his heart. After living with an artificial heart for several months, he received a

heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common proce ...

. He subsequently took part in the

New York Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

several times. Being classified as a disabled participant due to his transplant, he was once disqualified for being too fast as there was a minimum time, which he underran. His recovery from almost dying to returning into a normal life was covered in a documentary shown on German documentary channel

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. Gauder died while undergoing dialysis on 22 April 2020, aged 65. The cause of death was a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

complicated by

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

International competitions

*Olympic Games ** 1980 Moscow – gold ** 1988 Seoul – bronze *World Championships ** 1987 Rome – gold ** 1991 Tokyo – bronze *European Championships ** 1986 Stuttgart – gold ** 1990 Split – bronze

References

Sporting Heroes

External links

* * * 1954 births 2020 deaths People from Vaihingen an der Enz Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) East German male racewalkers German male racewalkers Olympic athletes for East Germany Olympic athletes for Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for East Germany World Athletics Championships athletes for Germany Heart transplant recipients Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub