Michael Thomas Maria Wessing (29 August 1952 – 7 May 2019) was a German
javelin thrower.
He finished fourteenth at the
1974 European Championships, won the gold medal at the
1978 European Championships and finished ninth at the
1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
. Representing the sports team
TV Wattenscheid
TV Wattenscheid 01 Leichtathletik is a German sports club focused on athletics. Founded in 1971 in Wattenscheid, Bochum in the Western part of Germany, the club's history is linked to that of an older club, ''Turnverein Wattenscheid 01'', a gymnas ...
, he became West German champion six years in a row in the years 1975 to 1980.
His personal best throw was 94.22 metres (with the
old javelin type), achieved on August 3, 1978 in
Oslo. It was the best throw in the world that year, and at the time second overall only to
Miklós Németh's 1976 world record of 94.58. When new javelin design rules came into force in April 1986, Wessing still stood as the eighth-best performer worldwide; in Germany only
Uwe Hohn and
Detlef Michel
Detlef Michel (born October 13, 1955 in Berlin), is a German track and field athlete. He represented East Germany during the 1980s and was one of the world's best in the javelin throw. His most important result came when he won the World Champi ...
, both from East Germany, had longer throws.
He died on 7 May 2019, at the age of 66, due to complications from surgery.
Trauer um Speerwerfer Wessing
References
External links
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1952 births
2019 deaths
West German male javelin throwers
Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for West Germany
European Athletics Championships medalists
TV Wattenscheid athletes
People from Recklinghausen
Sportspeople from Münster (region)
Deaths from surgical complications
{{West Germany-athletics-bio-stub