History of the triathlon in Germany

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hanni Zehendner and Joachim Fischer at the Ironman Hawaii , 1984
Dirk Aschmoneit and Alexandra Kremer - German champions in the middle distance, 1986 in Roth
Challenge Roth swim course in the Main-Danube Canal

The history of the triathlon in Germany begins in 1982.

The beginning 1982 to 1989

In the fall of 1981, the ZDF sports report broadcast a short TV report about the Ironman Hawaii , which was taken from images from the US broadcaster ABC from the race of the same year. In 1982 the first triathlon events took place in Germany . Ernst Peter Berghaus as the organizer started in Essen around the Baldeneysee on April 26, 1982 with 1 km swimming, 70 km cycling and 10 km running and organized the first triathlon competition on German soil. 48 participants, including six women, attended this event. The winners were the competitive swimmers and siblings Susanne and Ralf Albermann from the starting community in Essen.

The following competitions on Edersee in Hesse, Fischbach, Hückeswagen, Kassel, Kehl, Rostock and Gerolstein brought about 300 participants to the starting line in the same year. Manuel Debus and Detlef Kühnel , who later started Ironman Europe , were the first Germans to start at Ironman Hawaii. In 1983 the number of events doubled and that of individual starters increased tenfold.

In 1983 Debus created the first organizational structures and founded the German Triathlon Association (DTV), one of the two predecessor associations of today's German Triathlon Union (DTU). In 1984 there were 50 events with 10,000 participants. In 1985 these numbers were doubled again. There will be no more such brilliant growth. Today's German classics such as Immenstadt (1983) and Roth (1984) saw the light of day in the small world of triathlons. Günter Kissler from Koblenz organized a European championship over the long distance in September 1984 at Fühlinger See with the Cologne Triathlon . He later founded the DTrB. Klaus Klaeren became the first German triathlon champion at the Allgäu Triathlon in Immenstadt in 1984. In the women's category , Hanni Zehendner received the championship trophy. They were followed in 1985 in the legendary Schluchsee Middle Triathlon in the Black Forest by mathematician Gerhard Wachter and for women by Cologne-based Alexandra Kremer .

In 1984 Klaeren won the still unofficial European Championships in England, Hannes Blaschke from the Allgäu came 14th in the same year and ran in 1985 in 4th place at the Ironman Hawaii . Klaus Barth was able to repeat the same placement in Hawaii a year later. On February 23, 1985, the German Triathlon Union (DTU) was formed through the merger of the triathlon umbrella organizations DTV (German Triathlon Association, competitive sports) and DTrB (German Triathlon Association, popular sports-oriented) in Worms. The founding president is Dr. Joachim Fischer from Heigenbrücken in the Spessart. On December 5, 1987, the DTU was included in the German Sports Association (DSB).

The years 1986 to 1988 were strongly shaped by the dynamism that developed from Roth. The American Scott Tinley was a guest in Middle Franconia in 1986 at the International German Championships over 2.5 km swimming, 100 km cycling and 25 km running. Up until his wheel crash with subsequent flat tire, he initially had an exciting duel with Dirk Aschmoneit . Tinley, all Eisenmann, drove to the end and ran up to second place. Aschmoneit, who in the same year was the first German to stay below the magical nine-hour limit with 8:59:37 hours on the long haul in Säter, Sweden, won the heat battle in 4:40:09 hours - on the bike and on the road Only walk in swimming trunks.

In 1987 Rita Keitmann from Dortmund became the first German woman to win a long distance with the Embrunman in France. In 1988 she repeated this with the victory at the Ironman in Roth. In 1987 Detlef Kühnel went one step further as an organizer and hosted the European championships over 2 km swimming, 92 km cycling and 20 km running. The town of Roth was now finally awakening. Well over 50,000 spectators stood along the routes, cheered and gave the reluctant triathletes an unusual party. The dead straight swimming course, the gently undulating terrain of the district, the enthusiasm of the spectators and the perfect organization were the best prerequisites for exciting and very fast competitions. The Briton Glenn Cook brought the "Scott handlebar" to the continent for the first time. He won confidently in under four hours and Jürgen Zäck was third.

The level of entry fees increased significantly. Not least because of the DM 105 entry fee that was required for participation in the first Ironman Europe . The Dutchman Axel Koenders won in 8:13 hours ahead of Aschmoneit (8:24 hours). For women, Rita Keitmann signed the list of winners (10:07 hours). With this, Roth had already held competitions over 0.5-20-5, 1.0-40-10, 1.5-60-15, 2-92-20 and now 3.8-180-42 until 1988. Starting with the Bavarian Championships (1985), then the German (1986) and European Championships (1987), Roth set new standards with the Ironman Europe (1988) and was initially a qualifying race for Hawaii for six years. From 2002 the Challenge Roth will be held here.

Joachim Fischer , dentist and at the start of every triathlon, was no longer re-elected as DTU President in 1987. Instead, the still unknown twenty-seven-year-old Martin Engelhardt , a former Bundesliga swimmer and assistant doctor at the Hanau City Hospital, represented the top of the DTU from then on. The colorful early years slowly came to an end and gradually gave way to a regulated competition with a high level of organization. On December 5, 1987, the German Sports Association accepted the DTU as a new member and thus exclusively representing triathlon and duathlon national umbrella organization. This ended years of discussion as to whether the BDR , the DSV or the DLV were more responsible for harmonizing a set of rules. Simone Mortier had replaced Alexandra Kremer and in 1988 she won two German championships (short and middle distance). At the German Middle Distance Championships in Ettlingen in 1988, only eleven female starters were entered on the start list.

The period from 1990 to 1999

The professionalization of sport went ahead. On October 28, 1990, the Triathlon Association of the GDR, which was only founded in May, integrated itself into the DTU with its five regional associations. With 16 regional associations and 17,445 members, the DTU became the nation with the largest number of members within the European Triathlon Union (ETU).

The German triathlon scene was dominated by the athletes Jürgen Zäck, Wolfgang Dittrich and Dirk Aschmoneit , who had meanwhile also received media attention, as the dominant "Big Three" in Germany at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s. In 1993, Dittrich was the first German to be on the podium at the Ironman Hawaii - with third place. At the Jümme Triathlon , Matthias Klumpp and Ines Estedt became European champions in the long distance in 1995 . Estedt was the first German to break the nine-hour mark.

The second half of the nineties in particular was marked by debates about a drafting approval in triathlon.

Within just a few years, the IOC managed to make a decision at a congress on September 4, 1994 in Paris to include triathlon in the competition program for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney for the first time - although initially only temporarily. This was also a great success from a German point of view, because state sports funding is primarily available for Olympic sports. This made it possible for the young and financially tight DTU to expand its management and youth development - although the amount of funding is based on the success of the athletes.

In order to become a regular part of the triathlon in the Olympic program from the provisional status at an early stage, a viewer-friendly presentation of the competitions was aimed for. Even if Ironman enjoyed the greatest media presence, its format appeared unsuitable for the Olympics in terms of organizational effort and duration of the competition. At an early stage, 1.5 km swimming, 40 km on the bike and 10 km running were agreed as the “Olympic distance”. It was also desirable that the moment the first athlete crossed the finish line, the winner should also be determined. After it had taken a long time at short distance world championships in previous years until all official protests against referee decisions were dealt with, the ITU therefore gave at the short distance world championships in November 1995 in Cancún , where Lothar Leder , Roland Knoll and Stephan Vuckovic for Germany Team rating won, free drafting for the first time.

The rethinking of international races naturally also had an impact on the triathlon in Germany. DTU President Engelhardt had already pleaded in Roth in 1992 to abolish the slipstream ban at this largest German triathlon. While the performance of German athletes at the Ironman was celebrated in the media - Lothar Leder was the first athlete in the world to undercut the magical eight-hour mark in Roth in 1996, and Thomas Hellriegel was twice in a row in Hawaii only shortly before the finish in second place has been suppressed - the press used the adjective "embarrassing" for the international performance of German athletes on the Olympic distance.
The DTU then excluded all starters at the Ironman from the squad and thus from the support of the Sporthilfe . The German championship over the Olympic distance on August 10, 1996 in Losheim was the last with an official drafting ban. Also in the triathlon Bundesliga that emerged from the North Rhine-Westphalian crown league in 1996 and was organized nationwide by the DTU, drafting was approved from 1997 onwards. In the other leagues below the 1st Bundesliga organized by the regional associations, the regulations were initially inconsistent.

Thomas Hellriegel at the Trans Vorarlberg Triathlon , 2012

Successes were reserved for the Ironman athletes: in 1997, three Germans behind Luc Van Lierde undercut the eight-hour mark in Roth - and the same trio took second place three months later with Thomas Hellriegels first Hawaiian victory by a German and Jürgen Zäck and Lothar Leder and three the winners podium. Half of the top ten at the Ironman World Championship came from Germany in 1997, with 9 Germans among the first 22 men to finish. On the following Saturday, Hellriegel and Zäck were the first triathletes to sit as studio guests in the current sports studio .

After another "catastrophic performance" of German athletes in the short-distance World Cups - only once a German made it into the top ten in 1998 - and the World Cup in August 1998 in Lausanne , national coach Steffen Grosse, whose training methods had long been criticized , released from his responsibility. In July 1999, Anja Dittmer provided a glimmer of hope on the short distance when she won the European Championship in Madeira.

In the 1990s, Ironman Europe in Roth developed into the largest triathlon event by far, not only in Germany, but even worldwide: the organizers received four thousand registrations for the 2,700 starting places in 1998, and the police counted a six-digit number of spectators along the route. The next major events were Powerman Germany in 1998 with 1245 starters , a duathlon over 20 km running, 117 km cycling and 10 km running in Spalt from 1993 to 2001 , and the Rothsee Triathlon, which was then the only German triathlon with a four-digit number of participants exclusively over the Olympic distance .

In invitation races with top stars such as the ITGP Super Sprint in Koblenz from 1996, three triathlons over 300 m swimming, 7 km cycling and 2 km running in direct succession for US $ 100,000 in prize money in front of 20,000 spectators, or the Top4Tour in Baden- Württemberg from 1997, four triathlons on four days and four locations based on the example of the Tour de France , which was also part of the ETU Cup, organizers showed that triathlons can also be presented in a thrilling way for spectators. The formats were discontinued after four years. Also the “1. European Indoor Challenge ”in February 2000 in the Berlin Velodrome remained a unique event.

A short-distance World Cup in Nuremberg was planned as early as 1993, but was moved to Manchester at short notice by the ITU due to the short distance between the competition venues and locations with a Nazi past. For 1999 the Allgäu Triathlon already had the ITU's promise to host the World Cup, but the Immenstadt-based company withdrew its offer because the associations did not meet the promised financial contribution. Initially rescheduled for the Munich Olympic Park , ITU and DTU decided in December 1998 to host the rowing regatta in Oberschleißheim due to concerns about the water quality - until Montreal in Canada was chosen to host the 1999 World Cup at short notice . It was not until 2007 that the first world championships over the Olympic distance took place in Hamburg on German soil.

Even within the DTU, not everything went harmoniously: Conflicts that had been smoldering for years between Michael Fieberg, Managing Director of the West German Triathlon Association (WTV), the national association of the DTU with the largest number of members at the time, and DTU President Martin Engelhardt reached their climax when Engelhardt was the steward with the consent of the WTV top management Denied access to the delegates' day of the WTV. Engelhardt then called an extraordinary association day in Fritzlar in June 1999, on which the WTV was excluded from the DTU with the official justification of unpaid license fees for league events. After a few months, the WTV disbanded and the North Rhine-Westphalian clubs founded the North Rhine-Westphalian Triathlon Association (NRWTV) in August 1999 as the new and thus youngest member of the DTU.

The present 2000 until today

Triathlon became Olympic in Sydney in 2000 and Stephan Vuckovic took silver. Jan Frodeno crowned it all and won gold in Beijing 2008.

Hamburg City Man 2007 with the world championship over the Olympic distance

In March 2003 in Berlin, Thomas Hellriegel, together with Anja Dittmer and Rainer Müller-Hörner, were awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf of the Federal Republic of Germany for their sporting successes . Faris Al-Sultan was able to crown himself in Hawaii in 2005. In 2004 and 2006, Norman Stadler succeeded in doing this . Daniel Unger became world champion on the Olympic distance in 2007 in front of his home crowd in Hamburg.

The paratriathlete Hannes Köppen took part in the Ironman Hawaii three times from 2006 to 2008. In 2007 he became world champion in the handbike class in Hawaii in 11:29:15 h. At the Ironman Austria in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee in July 2008 , Sandra Wallenhorst beat the 14-year-old record of the South African and eight-time winner of the Ironman Hawaii Paula Newby-Fraser over the long distance with a time of 8:47:25 h, making her the fastest German athlete at this distance (as of December 2017).

In 2011, Andreas Raelert set a record valid until 2016 on the long distance: on July 10, 2011, with his victory at Challenge Roth , he undercut the world best time of Belgian Marino Vanhoenacker by almost five minutes and has since kept the world record on the long distance 07:41:33 hours.

In 2013, Reinhold Humbold won his age group at the Ironman Hawaii for the sixth time among amateur athletes . With another 17 German championship titles and two European Championship titles in his age group, he was the most successful German amateur. The number of DTU members with a triathlon license was 26,000 this year.

Jan Frodeno Roth 2016

Sebastian Kienle was able to add further large titles to his collection in 2014. The multiple German champion (2005, 2006, 2010 and 2014) and winner of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship (2012, 2013) won the Ironman Germany in Frankfurt and the Ironman Hawaii . Diana Riesler won the Ironman Germany women. With a win in Almere , Markus Fachbach became ETU -European long-distance champion.

In 2015 Jan Frodeno won the triple: The 2008 Olympic champion was the first athlete to win both the Ironman Germany in Frankfurt, the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Zell am See and the Ironman Hawaii in one year.
Martin Schulz wins the gold medal in the triathlon in the PT4 category at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. In July 2016, Frodeno won the Challenge Roth, with his winning time of 7:35:39 h, achieved a new world record on the long-distance triathlon and thus tops the list of German triathletes on the Ironman distance . In October 2016 he won gold for the second time at the Ironman Hawaii. In 2017 and 2018 Patrick Lange was able to repeat the success and win in Kona, Hawaii.

literature

  • Triathlon - More than a challenge . 2nd Edition. CD Verlagsgesellschaft Böblingen, 1986, ISBN 3-921432-47-2
  • Gerhard Wachter: Fascination Triathlon: by d. psych. u. phys. preparation up to the competition . With contributions from Hans Eberspächer u. Detlef Kühnel. Bielefelder Verlagsanstalt, 1987, ISBN 3-87073-026-9
  • Klaus Klaeren: The triathlon advisor . Sportinform Verlag, 1988, ISBN 3-89284-033-4
  • Training plan triathlon: beginners u. Advanced . Sportinform Verlag, 1988, ISBN 3-89284-315-5
  • Triathlon basic training competition . 3. Edition. Copress Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7679-0898-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of the triathlon. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 30, 2014 ; Retrieved February 18, 2015 .
  2. ^ Günter Lachmann, Thomas Steffens: Triathlon The crown of endurance . Spiridon-Verlag, Düsseldorf, ISBN 978-3-922011-09-5 , pp. 18 .
  3. ↑ Weber-Roth
  4. ↑ The history of the triathlon. Retrieved February 18, 2015 .
  5. ↑ The Triathlon History of Germany - Part 3: 1986-88
  6. ^ German Rambo . In: Der Spiegel . No. 25 , 1987 ( online ).
  7. ^ Triathlon history. Retrieved February 18, 2015 .
  8. ↑ a b Sean Phelps: The creation and development of an international sport federation: A case study of the International Triathlon Union from 1989-2000 ( English , PDF) In: Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations . 2006.
  9. ↑ sid : Ultra-Triathlon in Roth threatens to burst at the seams (PDF) In: Saarbrücker Zeitung . July 13, 1992. ( Facsimile in the booklet of Ironman Europe 1992, p. 50)
  10. ↑ Sebastian Moll: Eisenmann disregards any training theory . In: The world . August 24, 1996.
  11. ↑ Christian Witt: 1996 Hell Hawaii . In: Focus . November 4, 1996.
  12. ↑ Eisenmann Hellriegel was 119 seconds missing . In: Rhein-Zeitung . October 29, 1996.
  13. ↑ Berliner Kurier : Eisenmann Hellriegel intercepted again shortly before the goal . October 28, 1996.
  14. ↑ German stars are panting after the world's best . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . August 26, 1996.
  15. ↑ Fastest Ironman in the world . In: Rhein-Zeitung . July 14, 1997.
  16. ↑ Frank Ketterer: Hellriegel: went through hell three times . In: The world . October 20, 1997.
  17. ↑ Triumph of the three muscled animals . In: Hamburger Abendblatt . October 20, 1997.
  18. ↑ Ute Witt: Those who go through hell . In: Focus . September 30, 1995.
  19. ↑ Jörg Kottmeier: "Germans should buckle up" . In: Rhein-Zeitung . October 5, 1998.
  20. ^ Stefan Herre: Golden Sunday . In: Triathlete . No. 128 , September 1999, OCLC 724506582 , p. 18-27 .
  21. ^ Triathlon premiere in Koblenz . In: Rhein-Zeitung . May 11, 1996.
  22. ↑ Dirk Kurz: Jürgen Zäck had no chance . In: Rhein-Zeitung . 4th August 1997.
  23. ↑ Gert Blumenstock: Germans have to relearn . In: Rhein-Zeitung . August 10, 1998.
  24. ↑ Simon Lessing won the super sprint triathlon . In: Rhein-Zeitung . August 22, 1999.
  25. ↑ Top4Tour 1997 - 2001 (Multisportsnetwork)
  26. ↑ ETU Cup 2000 competition calendar ( Memento from May 11, 2000 in the Internet Archive ), European Triathlon Union
  27. ^ Karl-Heinz Bergmann: Ironman also successful as short-time work . In: Berliner Zeitung . February 27, 2000.
  28. ↑ To have for every mess . In: The world . February 28, 2000.
  29. ↑ Press release ( Memento from June 17, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) German Triathlon Union October 23, 1997
  30. ↑ Allgäu Triathlon timeline. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Allgäu Triathlon , June 25, 2014, formerly in the original ; accessed on November 1, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.allgaeu-triathlon.de
  31. ↑ Press release ( Memento from January 20, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) DTU January 18, 1999
  32. ↑ Press release ( Memento from June 17, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) DTU February 9, 1999
  33. ↑ Harry Klein: Looking Back in Anger . In: Triathlete . No. 121 , February 1999, OCLC 724506582 , p. 17-19 .
  34. ↑ Press release 27/99 ( Memento from June 17, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) DTU June 21, 1999
  35. ↑ Press release 45/99 ( Memento from June 17, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) DTU August 21, 1999
  36. ^ Triathlon premiere: "Pirate" Vuckovic wins silver . In: Rhein-Zeitung . September 17, 2000.
  37. ↑ The history of the triathlon. Retrieved February 18, 2015 .
  38. ↑ Reinhold Humbold: Triathlon veteran with six world championship titles. Retrieved February 18, 2015 .
  39. ↑ Information on the DTU starting passes. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 7, 2014 ; Retrieved February 18, 2015 .
  40. ^ Fachbach and Bij de Vaate crowned European champions at Challenge Almere. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 15, 2014 ; Retrieved February 18, 2015 .
  41. ↑ Triathlon: Jan Frodeno cracks world record over long distance (July 17, 2016)