Jürgen Haase (born 19 January 1945) is a former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete and Olympian, who, competing 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 ...

, was among the world's best long distance track runners in the 1960s and 1970s. Twice during this period, in 1966 and 1969, he was European champion in the 10,000 meters.

Career

Haase trained with methods developed by

Arthur Lydiard Arthur Leslie Lydiard (6 July 1917 – 11 December 2004) was a New Zealand runner and athletics coach. He has been lauded as one of the outstanding athletics coaches of all time and is credited with popularising the sport of running and making ...

, the New Zealand trainer who was, at the time, still relatively unknown in Europe and was the surprise winner of the 1965 GDR 10,000 metres. At the European Championships in 1966, his teammate

Jürgen May Jürgen May (born 18 June 1942 in Nordhausen, Thuringia, Nordhausen, Thuringia) is a former middle-distance runner, who was a successful athlete and Olympic Games competitor, who escaped from the German Democratic Republic, GDR to continue his ca ...

convinced him, with the help of a $500 bribe, not to wear his usual Adidas shoes but rather to wear Puma. This episode became something of a political scandal, in the course of which Haase was pardoned by the GDR Sports authorities. May, on the other hand, was permanently banned from the GDR national team.Jürgen Haase
sports-reference.comVolker Kluge (November 1999

. ''Laufzeit''. pp. 12–13 Haase missed the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

due to

blood poisoning Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is foll ...

that he received after being injured by the

spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

of another runner at a competition in Paris. After retiring from competitions in 1973, Haase was active in customer service and marketing of medical technology. He then graduated from the ''Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur und Sport'' (German College for Fitness Training and Sport) and became a coach at SC Dynamo Berlin. His trainees included

Kathrin Weßel Kathrin Wessel (née Ullrich; born 14 August 1967) is a retired German long-distance runner who specialized in the 10,000 metres. She was the 1987 World Championship bronze medallist, the 1990 European Championship silver medallist, and won the ...

(bronze medalist in 10,000 m at the 1987 World Championships) and Detlef Wagenknecht (World Cup medalist in 800 m in 1981 and 1983). After the reunification of Germany, Haase worked at the Deutschen Leichtathletik-Verbandes (German Track Federation).

International races

* 1964, European Junior Championships: 1st place: 1500 m (3:52.4); 1st place: 3000 m (8:25.4) * 1966, European Championships: 1st place: 10,000 m (28:26.0); 11th place: 5000 m (13:55.6 ) * 1967, European Cup: 1st place: 10,000 m (28:54.2); 2nd place: 5000 m (15:27.8) * 1968, Olympic Games: 15th place: 10,000 m (30:24.0) * 1969, European Championships: 1st place: 10,000 m (28:41.6) * 1970, European Cup: 1st place: 10,000 m (28:26.8) * 1971, European Championships: 2nd place: 10,000 m (27:53.4)

East German championships

* 10,000 m: 1st place – 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1973 * 5000 m: 1st place – 1969, 2nd place – 1973 *

Cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

12 km: 2nd place – 1966, 1st place – 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1972 * 3000 m indoor: 2nd place – 1965 and 1966, 3rd place – 1970

Records

*10,000 m ** East German record: 28:12.6, 25 May 1966,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

** European record: 28:04.4, 21 July 1968,

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

** East German record: 27:53.36, 10 August 1971,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

* 15 km road run ** GDR record: 43:45.2, 21 April 1974, Sachsenhausen (Current German Record as of November 2015) * 20 km road run ** GDR record: 58:56, 1973 * One hour run ** GDR record: 20,393 Meters, 6 May 1973,

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haase, Jurgen 1945 births Living people East German male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for East Germany German athletics coaches European Athletics Championships medalists SC Leipzig athletes