Manfred Steinbach (born 18 August 1933) is a German former sprinter,

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

er, professor of sport medicine and government official. He competed at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in the 100 m, but failed to reach the final. In

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

he finished in fourth place in the long jump, setting his personal best at 8.00 m. Shortly before the Olympics, in July 1960 he jumped 8.14 m, 1 cm above the 1935 record by

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

, but this jump was discounted because of lacking wind measurement. He set another, officially recognized world record in August 1958, by running the 4×100 m relay in 39.5 seconds together with

Martin Lauer Karl Martin Lauer (; 2 January 1937 – 6 October 2019) was a West German sprinter who won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Biography Lauer was a German champion in 110 m hurdles from 1956 to 1960 and in de ...

Heinz Fütterer Heinrich Ludwig Fütterer (; 14 October 1931 – 10 February 2019) was a German athlete, who mainly competed in sprint events. Early life He was born in Illingen. Fütterer competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Su ...

and

Manfred Germar Manfred ("Manni") Germar (; born 10 March 1935 in Cologne) is a West German athlete who mainly competed in sprint events. He competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia where he wo ...

. Steinbach was born and raised in East Germany, but in April 1958 fled to West Germany, following his parents who did so in 1953. After that his coach was accused of complicity and imprisoned. In 1959 Steinbach graduated from a medical school in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

. Two years later he became a professor of sports medicine in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

. In 1967 he ended his sports career and worked at the

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

in Tokyo as the German team doctor. From 1973 to 1993 he served on the board of the German Athletics Federation, and between 1965 and 1970 headed the Institute of Sports Medicine of the

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stu ...

. In 1970 he moved to

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, where until 1977 he served as Assistant Secretary at the Ministry of Social Affairs. From 1977 to 6 October 1993 he was head of the pharmacy and drugs department at the Ministry of Health. He had to resign after a scandal, in which ministry officials concealed hundreds of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

cases resulted from transfusion of contaminated blood. Later, between 1999 and 2008 he was president of the and subsequently its honorary president. He also continued to be a professor of sports medicine and first aid at the University of Darmstadt.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinbach, Manfred 1933 births Living people People from Szprotawa People from the Province of Silesia German male sprinters German male long jumpers Olympic athletes of the United Team of Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics