Heinrich Ludwig Fütterer (; 14 October 1931 – 10 February 2019) was a German
athlete
An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...
, who mainly competed in sprint events.
Early life
He was born in
Illingen.
Fütterer competed for the
United Team of Germany
The United Team of Germany () was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympic Games, Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes from a third ...
in the
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...
held in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, where he won the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metre relay with his teammates
Lothar Knörzer,
Leonhard Pohl and
Manfred Germar
Manfred ("Manni") Germar (; born 10 March 1935 in Cologne) is a West German athlete who mainly competed in sprint events.
He competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, Australia
A ...
but didn't reach the 100 m final.
In 1954 he won two gold medals at the European Championships in
Bern, Switzerland
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, in 1958 he won the relay with Germany.
His nickname was "weißer Blitz" ("white lightning").
His best time in the 100 meters was 10.2 seconds, equalling the world record held by
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...
and a number of other sprinters. He ran the race in Japan (1954). His best in the 200 meters was 20.8 seconds. He was part of the German
world record 4 × 100 m relay of 1958.
Fütterer died in Illingen on 10 February 2019 at the age of 87.
References
Further reading
* Alfons Bitterwolf, Gustav Bitterwolf: ''Heinz Fütterer, der weiße Blitz''. Biografie. Bitterwolf, Illingen/Rastatt 1955, ASIN B0000BGL0Q
* Michael Dittrich, Daniel Merkel: ''Der "Weiße Blitz" – Das Leben des Heinz Fütterer.'' Verlag Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2006,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Futterer, Heinz
1931 births
2019 deaths
Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics
German male sprinters
Olympic athletes for the United Team of Germany
Olympic bronze medalists for the United Team of Germany
European Athletics Championships medalists
Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics
Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
People from Rastatt (district)
Athletes from Karlsruhe (region)
20th-century German sportsmen