Achim Hill
Achim Hill (born April 1, 1935 in Berlin-Köpenick ; † August 4, 2015 ) was a rower from the GDR . He won two Olympic silver medals in one .
Life
Hill started out as a belt oarsman in 1953 . In 1957 he won his first GDR championship title in two without a helmsman . In 1958 he switched to the scull and won the GDR championship in 1959 and 1960. At that time Hill was studying aircraft technology in West Berlin and had to leave his club SC Einheit Berlin after his trainer left. Hill then joined the Motor Baumschulenweg Association (today: Richtershorner RV Berlin ).
Nevertheless, he was allowed to take part in the Olympic qualification and prevailed there against the West German Klaus von Fersen . At the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, he lost in the run-up to his New Zealand namesake James Hill . Achim Hill was able to qualify for the final via the hope run . Here he secured silver behind the defending champion Vyacheslav Ivanov . Ivanov was seven seconds ahead of Achim Hill, while Pole Teodor Kocerka won bronze ahead of James Hill , one second behind Hill. Achim Hill was the first GDR rower to win an Olympic medal.
After Hill had won the double scull in addition to the GDR title in the single in 1959 , he also won the double scull in 1961. Thereafter, Hill won the single title every year from 1962 to 1967. After the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, Hill moved to the TU Dresden , where he studied applied mechanics. In 1962 he qualified as the only GDR rower for the all-German team at the World Cup against Edgar Heidorn , but retired in the hope race.
In the all-German Olympic eliminations in 1964 Hill was able to qualify again. At the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Hill won his preliminary run. Ivanov was once again unbeatable in the final. Hill won silver again, three and a half seconds behind, this time ahead of Swiss Gottfried Kottmann .
In 1966 Achim Hill finished fourth at the World Championships . In 1967 he became European champion and was able to defeat Ivanov. At the Olympic Games in 1968 Hill was again Olympic fifth.
After his career, Hill worked as a graduate engineer at the Institute for Rail Vehicles. In 1973 he married the nine-time GDR champion in the one Gisela Jäger .
Awards (selection)
- 1960 and 1964: Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze
literature
- Volker Kluge : The great lexicon of GDR athletes. The 1000 most successful and popular athletes from the GDR, their successes and biographies. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-348-9 .
- Volker Kluge: Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 .
Web links
- Achim Hill in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Individual evidence
- ^ Only Hill prevailed through row eliminations for the World Championships in Lucerne , in: Neues Deutschland from September 4, 1962
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hill, Achim |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German rower |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin-Koepenick |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th August 2015 |