Jan Gerrit Fitschen (born 2 May 1977 in

Nordhorn Nordhorn ( Northern Low Saxon: ''Nothoorn'' (or ''Notthoarn'', ''Netthoarn'' and ''Noordhoorn'')) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the district seat of Grafschaft Bentheim in Lower Saxony's southwesternmost corner near the border with th ...

) is a German long-distance runner, competing for TV

Wattenscheid Wattenscheid () is a Stadtbezirk of the city of Bochum. Until 1975, it was a separate town in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia. Wattenscheid has a population of about 80,000 citizens. Some notable firms have their headquarters in there, ...

01. At the 1999 Under 23 European Championships he finished fifth over the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

. He was

German champion German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

over 5000 metres in 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2006 and over 10,000 m in 2005 and 2006. Fitschen won the title of European Champion over

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

at the

2006 European Championships in Athletics The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Championsh ...

in Gothenburg in a personal best at the time of 28:10.94. However, on 4 May 2008 in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, he improved on his 10,000 m time with a personal best of 28:02.55.

References

External links

Fitschen keeps going in his dream race
EAA) 1977 births Living people People from Nordhorn German male long-distance runners German national athletics champions European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Germany Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade Athletes from Lower Saxony TV Wattenscheid athletes {{Germany-longdistance-athletics-bio-stub