Volker Hadwich (born 23 September 1964) is a German male former

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

er who competed for

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

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Born in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, during his career he competed for his hometown club

SC Magdeburg SC Magdeburg is a handball club from Magdeburg, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History During the time in the GDR, the club won 10 national championships (1970, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991) an ...

and stood at 1.96 m, weighing 103 kg.Volker Hadwich
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2017-02-14. He set his personal best of in 1989. He threw beyond eighty metres for the first time in the 1986 season, achieving a best of in Erfurt, ranking in the world's top twenty that year.Volker Hadwich
Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2017-02-14. He had his first international success at the 1987 Universiade, where he was the bronze medallist behind Marek Kaleta and Sejad Krdžalic. The 1989 season was the peak of his career. He won his first national title at the East German Athletics Championships with a meet record throw of . He was the bronze medallist at both the 1989 European Cup and

1989 IAAF World Cup The 5th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 8–10, 1989, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Spain. ...

, with

Steve Backley Stephen James Backley, OBE (born 12 February 1969) is a retired British track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He formerly held the world record, and his throw from 1992 is the British record. During his career, he was a ...

being the winner at both events. He ended the year second on the European rankings to Backley, courtesy of a lifetime best performance of in

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...

, which made him the fourth best athlete in the world in 1989. After missing much of the 1990 and 1991 seasons due to injury, he returned to claim the second and final national title of his career at the

German Athletics Championships The German Athletics Championships (german: Deutsche Leichtathletik-Meisterschaften) are the national championships in athletics of Germany, organised annually by the Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband. The competition features track and field eve ...

, throwing (his best that year). As a result he was chosen to represent

Germany at the 1992 Summer Olympics Germany competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. It was the first time the European nation participated after German reunification in 1990. Previously, West Germany and East Germany had sent independent teams to the Games. 463 c ...

. Later investigation of leaked Stasi files showed Hadwich had failed doping tests for abnormal levels of testosterone, which were subsequently covered up by the national sports body.„EINE GROSSE MAFIA“
(1994-03-21). Retrieved on 2017-02-14.

International competitions

National titles

* East German Athletics Championships **Javelin throw: 1989 *

**Javelin throw: 1992

Seasonal progression

*1986: 81.02 m *1987: 80.74 m *1988: 81.26 m *1989: 84.84 m *1992: 82.26 m

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hadwich, Volker Living people 1964 births Sportspeople from Magdeburg East German male javelin throwers German male javelin throwers Olympic athletes for Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Doping cases in athletics East German sportspeople in doping cases Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade People from Bezirk Magdeburg SC Magdeburg athletes