Willi Holdorf (; 17 February 1940 – 5 July 2020) was a

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

athlete.

Career

In 1964 he won the first Olympic medal for Germany in decathlon and was named

German Sportspersonality of the Year The German Sportspersonality of the Year has been chosen annually since 1947, with separate awards made for men and women. The record holder is tennis player Steffi Graf, who won five awards. Swimmer Michael Groß, tennis player Boris Becker, and ...

. In 1997, he became a member of the German Olympic Committee, and in 2011 inducted into the German Sports Hall of Fame. Holdorf was the German champion in 1961 and 1963 in decathlon, and in 1962 in the 200 m hurdles. He placed fifth in decathlon at the European Championships in 1962 and 1964. He was trained as a high-voltage electrician, but later worked as a sporting goods representative and a coach, both in athletics and football. He coached Olympic

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er Claus Schiprowski, Reinhard Kuretzky and

Günther Nickel Günther Nickel (born 24 March 1946 in Munich) is a German former hurdler who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: Münc ...

, and later managed German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side

SC Fortuna Köln SC Fortuna Köln is a German association football club based in the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. History The club was formed as on 21 February 1948 through the merger of three local sides: Victoria Köln 1911 (one of two clubs to ...

in football, where he could not avoid relegation. At the Bobsleigh European Championships 1973 he was runner up in the two men competition. Holdorf was the father of Dirk Holdorf, a former professional football player.

References

External links

* * 1940 births 2020 deaths People from Steinburg Sportspeople from Schleswig-Holstein German decathletes Olympic gold medalists for the United Team of Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for the United Team of Germany German football managers Bundesliga managers SC Fortuna Köln managers Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) West German Athletics Championships winners {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub

Career

See also

References

External links