Woldemar Gerschler (14 June 1904 – 28 June 1982) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

coach responsible for the German national middle-distance runners at the 1936, 1952, 1956 and 1960

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. He was one of the pioneers of

interval training Interval training is a type of training exercise that involves a series of high-intensity workouts interspersed with rest or relief periods. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods invo ...

and coached several world-record holders such as

Rudolf Harbig Rudolf Waldemar Harbig (8 November 1913 – 5 March 1944) was a German athlete. As a middle distance runner he was best known for the 800 metres world record that he set in Milan in 1939. He also held the European record in the 400 metres from 1 ...

Gordon Pirie Douglas Alistair Gordon Pirie (10 February 1931 – 7 December 1991) was an English long-distance runner. He competed in the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won a silver medal in the 5000 m in 1956, placing fo ...

and

Roger Moens Roger Moens (born 26 April 1930) is a Belgian former middle-distance runner. In 1955 he broke Rudolf Harbig's long-standing world record over 800 meters. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome he won a silver medal in the 800 m. Biography On 3 Augu ...

Life

Gerschler was born in

Meißen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechts ...

on 14 June 1904. He obtained his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in Meißen, and then studied German, History and Sport at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

under Hermann Altrock among others. After he finished his studies, he spent some years teaching at a Gymnasium before becoming a professional coach. In Dresden, he discovered the then unknown

and became his coach. Gerschler coached Harbig to several world records (e.g. in

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

in 1939), consequently he was appointed the German national coach. He also coached

Käthe Krauß Käthe or Kathe is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Käthe Dorsch (1890–1957), German actress *Käthe Gold (1907–1997), Austrian actress *Käthe Grasegger, later Deuschl (1917–2001), German alpine skier * Kathe Green (bo ...

, who competed in the 1936

Olympic games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. In spite of being the German national coach, Gerschler coached world-record holding runners of other nations such as the Englishman

(

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

) and the Belgian

(

). In this period he wrote his books on

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 ...

and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Gerschler also worked as a

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

for FC St. Pauli in 1947/48, and

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German association football, football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. The club was one of the founding ...

in 1948/49. In Braunschweig, Gerschler also coached the athletes of the club who, especially in

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

, were among the best in Germany in the late 1940s and early 1950s and won many German titles. His pupil

Rudi Lüttge Rudi Lüttge (19 December 1922 – 23 September 2016) was a German racewalker, who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics. Career Lüttge competed for the clubs ''BSG Büssing Braunschweig'' (from 1938 to 1941) and Eintracht Braunschweig (fro ...

set an unofficial world record in Braunschweig in 1948. From 1948 onwards Gerschler also acted as ''Lehrwart'' of the ''Deutscher Leichtathletik Ausschuss'', the predecessor of the

Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband The German Athletics Association (German: ''Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband'', DLV) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Germany. Since 2010, Germany's kits are supplied by Nike. See also *German Athletics Championships * East Ge ...

. On 1 December 1949, at the instigation of Herbert Reindell, Gerschler was named director of the ''Institut für Leibesübungen'' (Institute for physical exercises) at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. However, as he did not have a doctorate, he was only paid as an '' Akademischer Oberrat'' (senior member of the Academic Senate). He was only made a professor shortly before his retirement in 1971. He was awarded the

Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (german: link=no, Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg) is the highest award of the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Established 26 November 1974, it was originally called the Medal of Merit of Bad ...

for his services to sport and the

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany).

Training methods

Gerschler coached Rudolf Harbig to become the world's best in his events in the 1930s using the then new methods of

, of which Gerschler was a pioneer. While working in Freiburg, Gerschler experimented with a system of short distance training runs, demanding of the athletes that they should run "so fast that the pace required in competition would seem moderate and achievable". Interval training as practised in Freiburg was essentially physiologically oriented, being based on

heart rate Heart rate (or pulse rate) is the frequency of the heartbeat measured by the number of contractions (beats) of the heart per minute (bpm). The heart rate can vary according to the body's physical needs, including the need to absorb oxygen and excr ...

s. Gerschler also attached considerable importance to training during the winter, which had been previously neglected, saying that "long-distance runners should not deviate too far from the type of training they practised in summer".

Publications

* ''Weit- und Dreisprung''. (

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 ...

and

) Limpert, Berlin 1937. (3rd edition in 1943) * ''Harbigs Aufstieg zum Weltrekord''. (Harbig's rise to the world record) Verlag Hermann Püschel, Dresden 1939.

Literature

* *

Arnd Krüger Arnd Krüger (born July 1, 1944) is a German professor of sport studies. Krüger earned his BA (English major) from UCLA in 1967 and his PhD from the University of Cologne (Modern and Medieval History) in Germany in 1971. He attended UCLA on a t ...

: ''Viele Wege führen nach Olympia. Die Veränderungen in den Trainingssystemen für Mittel- und Langstreckenläufer (1850–1997).'' (Many roads lead to Olympia. The changes in the training system for middle- and long-distance runners (1850-1997).) In: N. Gissel (ed.): ''Sportliche Leistung im Wandel.'' (Changing sporting achievements) Czwalina, Hamburg 1998, S. 41–56.

References

External links

*
Publication of the Faculty of Economic and Communication Sciences (''Schrift der Wirtschafts- und Verhaltenswissenschaftlichen Fakultät'')
with references to Woldemar Gerschler being director of the ''Institut für Leibesübungen'' and holding the ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerschler, Woldemar German athletics coaches West German male athletes West German football managers FC St. Pauli managers Eintracht Braunschweig managers Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1904 births 1982 deaths