Jürgen Straub (born November 3, 1953 in Weitersroda) is a former East German middle distance runner who specialized in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. Straub's greatest race won him a silver medal 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 ...

over

representing

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 ...

, behind

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

. In that race Straub surprisingly beat

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

champion

Steve Ovett Stephen Michael James Ovett, (; born 9 October 1955) is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, and set 5 world records for 1500 metres and the ...

into third place. Needing a strategy to compete against the two more favoured and fast-finishing British runners, Straub suddenly accelerated with still 700 meters of the race remaining and then steadily increased his pace to the end, overhauled only by Coe and crossing the finishing line in obvious delight. British athletics coach George Gandy later said "If anyone deserved a gold medal, it was Straub". Straub also finished third at the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and

1979 IAAF World Cup The 2nd IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on August 24–26, 1979, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Overall resu ...

s. Straub set his personal best over 1500 m in Potsdam in 1979 with a time of 3:33.68 min. This result places him sixth on the German all-time performers list, behind

Thomas Wessinghage Thomas Wessinghage (born 22 February 1952 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former middle- and long-distance runner who won the 1982 European Championships' final over 5000 metres beating the British world-record holder David Moorcro ...

Harald Hudak Harald Hudak (born 28 January 1957 in Vaihingen an der Enz) is a retired (West) German middle-distance runner who specialized in 1500 metres. He was one of the runners that set a world record of 14:38.8 minutes in the 4x1500 metres relay in 1977, ...

Jens-Peter Herold Jens-Peter Herold (born 2 June 1965 in Neuruppin) is a retired German middle-distance runner who participated in several international championships in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the 1987 World Championships he came sixth over 1500 me ...

Dieter Baumann Dieter Baumann (, ; born 9 February 1965) is a former German athlete and winner of the 5000 m at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won the silver medal in the same event (5000 m) at the 1988 Summer Olympics. In 1999 Baumann tested positive for na ...

and Rüdiger Stenzel. Straub was an excellent

3000 m steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the h ...

r as well, winning three East German national titles over that distance.East German championships, men's 3000 m steeplechase
/ref> He competed for the sports club ASK Vorwärts Potsdam during his active career.

References

1953 births Living people East German male middle-distance runners East German male steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub