Volker Beck (born 30 June 1956 in

Nordhausen Nordhausen may refer to: * Nordhausen (district), a district in Thuringia, Germany ** Nordhausen, Thuringia, a city in the district **Nordhausen station, the railway station in the city * Nordhouse, a commune in Alsace (German: Nordhausen) * Narost ...

Bezirk Erfurt The Bezirk Erfurt was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Erfurt. History The district was established, along with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 Octob ...

) is a former

East German 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 ...

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 ...

, winner of

400 m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

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 ...

. With the best 400 m hurdler in the late 1970s and early 1980s

Edwin Moses Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American former track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 m hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and ...

missing due to the boycott, the most likely winner of the Olympic gold was Volker Beck, the East German 400 m hurdles champion in 1980, 1981 and 1983. In

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Beck won the 400 m hurdles in 48,70 s, beating second-placed

Vasyl Arkhypenko Vasyl Albertovych Arkhypenko ( uk, Василь Альбертович Архипенко, russian: Василий Альбертович Архипенко, ''Vasiliy Albertovich Arkhipenko;'' born 28 January 1957 in Mykolaivka, Donetsk Oblast, ...

from

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

by 0.16 seconds, although it was the slowest Olympic final since

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. Beck won his second Olympic medal in

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, when he was beaten to a second place by Soviet anchor

Viktor Markin Viktor Fyodorovich Markin () (born 23 February 1957 in the village of Oktyabrsky, Ust-Tarksky District, Novosibirsk Oblast ) is a former Soviet athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. After graduating from a ...

. After his athletics career, Beck started to work as a coach, among other things he was a coach of German National Team.

References

profile
1956 births Living people People from Nordhausen, Thuringia People from Bezirk Erfurt East German male sprinters East German male hurdlers Sportspeople from Thuringia German athletics coaches Olympic athletes of East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub