Bernd Kannenberg

Bernd Kannenberg
Full name	Bernd Gerhard Kannenberg
nation	BR Germany
birthday	August 20, 1942
place of birth	Koenigsberg ,  German Empire
size	176 cm
Weight	75 kg
job	Sports soldier
date of death	January 13, 2021
Place of death	Munster ,  Germany
Career
discipline	Walk
Best performance	20 km walking: 1:24:45 h (1974) 50 km walking: 3:52:45 h (1972)
society	1. FC Nuremberg , LAC source Fürth
Medal table
Olympic games 1 × 0 × 0 × European championships 0 × 1 × 0 × German championships 11 × 3 × 3 × German indoor championships 4 × 1 × 0 ×
Olympic games gold 1972 Munich 50 km of walking  European championships silver 1974 Rome 20 km walking  German championships silver 1970 Berlin 20 km walking team bronze 1970 Eschborn 50 km walking team bronze 1971 Salzgitter 20 km walking silver 1971 Salzgitter 20 km walking team bronze 1971 Önsbach 50 km of walking gold 1971 Önsbach 50 km walking team gold 1972 Munich 20 km walking gold 1972 Munich 20 km walking team gold 1972 Eschborn 50 km of walking gold 1972 Eschborn 50 km walking team gold 1973 Eschborn 50 km of walking gold 1974 Hanover 20 km walking silver 1974 Hanover 20 km walking team gold 1975 Gelsenkirchen 20 km walking gold 1975 Gelsenkirchen 20 km walking team gold 1975 wooden churches 50 km of walking gold 1975 wooden churches 50 km walking team  German indoor championships silver 1971 Hamburg 10,000 m walking gold 1972 Hamburg 10,000 m walking gold 1973 Mainz 10,000 m walking gold 1974 Hamburg 10,000 m walking gold 1975 Munich 10,000 m walking

Bernd Gerhard Kannenberg (born August 20, 1942 in Königsberg , East Prussia , † January 13, 2021 in Münster ) was a German walker and Olympic champion .

Athletic career

Bernd Kannenberg only started high-performance walking training in 1969 at the age of 27; previously he had only competed in fun runs . In May 1972 he improved the world record in 50 km walking by more than eight minutes.

Starting for the Federal Republic of Germany, he won gold in the 50 km walk at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich in 3: 56: 11.6 hours. For this service, the professional soldier was promoted to senior sergeant. He was also honored with the silver bay leaf. Among other things, he served at the Bundeswehr sports school in Warendorf . He achieved another great success two years later when he finished second in the 20 km walk at the European Championships in Rome in 1: 29: 38.2 hours.

In addition, Kannenberg was German champion three times in his career in walking 50 km (1972, 1973, 1975) and walking 20 km (1972, 1974, 1975). He won other German championships in the team competition, twice over 20 km (1972, 1975) and three times over 50 km (1971, 1972, 1975).

He also took part in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal in the 20 km walk, but gave up prematurely due to excessive pain. At the end of his career, which lasted until 1978, his performance was impaired by hernias due to his training for more than six hours a day and viral diseases in the abdominal muscles.

He initially started for 1. FC Nürnberg and from 1971 for LAC Quelle Fürth . In his playing days he was 1.75 m tall and weighed 72 kg.

In 1974 he was awarded the Rudolf Harbig Memorial Prize.

After his active career, Kannenberg was still active as the national coach of the German walkers, but later had to give up this position for health reasons.

Others

In 1945, during the escape from Königsberg, Kannenberg survived the sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff together with his cousin . His grandmother died in the process. They then settled in Thuringia. In 1955 Kannenberg moved to West Germany.

Further starts at international highlights

• 1971, European Championships : 9th place in the 20 km walk (1: 32: 06.4 h)
• 1972, Olympic Games : gave up prematurely in the 20 km walk
• 1974, European Championships : 9th place in the 50 km walk (4: 21: 46.0 h)

Web links

• Bernd Kannenberg in the Olympedia.org database (English)
• Bernd Kannenberg in the database of World Athletics (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Olympic champion Bernd Kannenberg has passed away. In: Leichtathletik.de. January 14, 2021, accessed January 14, 2021 . 
2. ↑ Höhne against Kannenberg - the duel of the Olympic champions. (Video, 2.3 MB, 43 seconds) In: mdr.de . January 4, 2016, accessed January 14, 2021 . 
3. ↑ German Bundestag, 7th electoral period, printed matter 7/1040: Information by the Federal Government: Sports report of the Federal Government. (pdf; 1.7 MB) September 29, 1973, p. 68 , accessed on January 15, 2021 . 
4. ↑ Andreas Schirmer (dpa): Olympic champion Bernd Kannenberg is dead . zdf.de. January 15, 2021, accessed January 15, 2021.