300px, Rainer Pottel on 24 May 1981 in Halle
Rainer Pottel (born 29 August 1953 in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
) is a retired
decathlete
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄθ ...
, who 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 ...
in the 1970s and 1980s. He had the best performance in the world in 1981, collecting 8,334 points at a meet in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
(30 August 1981). He is a three-time national champion (1974, 1977 and 1981) for East Germany in the men's decathlon.
References
Sources
1981 Year List
1953 births
Living people
East German decathletes
Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for East Germany
Athletes from Berlin
{{Germany-decathlon-bio-stub
