Ronald Weigel (born 8 August 1959 in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen (IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra river ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

) is a German

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

and Olympic medal winner. In the 1980s through the middle of the 1990s he represented

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 ...

(and then Germany after 1990) as one of world's best in

race walking 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. Race judges carefully asse ...

. His first big win came in 1983 when he won the World title in the 50 km walk. At the Summer Olympic games he won a silver medal in the 20 km walk as well as a silver and a bronze medal in the 50 km walk. He is the only German sportsman to have won Olympic medals in both walking disciplines at the Games. He was unable to participate in the 1984 Summer Olympic Games because of the East German boycott, when he was the overwhelming favourite to win. Weigel represented ASK Vorwärts Potsdam, and after reunification he went to OSC Potsdam and then LAC Halensee. He trained with Hans-Joachim Pathus. During his competitive years he was 1.77 meters tall and weighed 62 kilograms.

Results in detail

*1983, World championship, 50 km walk: 1st place (3:43:08 hours) *1987, World championship, 50 km walk: 2nd place (3:41:30 hours) *1988, Summer Olympic games, 20 km walk: 2nd place (1:20:00 hours); 50 km walk: 2nd place (3:38:56 hours) *1990, European championship, 50 km walk: 9th place (4:04:36 hours) At the 1986 European championships he was disqualified in the 50 km walk. At the 1991 World championship he retired from the course, and at the 1995 World championship he was disqualified.

Life outside sport

Weigel started in the sport as a student in his hometown of Hildburghausen and was found to have natural talent. In 1973 he became the East German student champion, and in 1977 he was second at the Junior European championship. As a member of the Army sports club he was

Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian, and Swiss armies. While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has and originally had the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literally ...

in the NVA. After reunification he freely admitted to having worked for the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...

and was then let go from the sports group of the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

without notice. In 1997, Weigel took a position as the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n national coach in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. He trained the Australian

Nathan Deakes Nathan Deakes (born 17 August 1977 in Geelong) is an Australian former race walker. Deakes trained with the Australian Institute of Sport. By performances, Deakes is Australia's best and most successful ever race walker, winning several in ...

who won the bronze medal in the 20 km walk at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and was the 2007 World Champion over 50 km walk After the games, Weigel went back to Germany and took over from his previous trainer, Hans-Joachim Pathus as the German national trainer. His admitted work for the East German security service was taken into consideration, but was not deemed to be a hindrance in hiring him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weigel, Ronald 1959 births Living people East German male racewalkers Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany World record setters in athletics (track and field) People from Hildburghausen German athletics coaches Australian Institute of Sport coaches World Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Thuringia Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) People of the Stasi National People's Army military athletes World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners