Harald Norpoth

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Harald Norpoth (right) during a competition in 1963. In the foreground the French runner Michel Jazy .

Harald Norpoth (born August 22, 1942 in Münster ) is a former German medium and long-distance runner who started for the Federal Republic of Germany .

Sports career

With a height of 1.85 m and a weight of 60 kg, Norpoth belonged such. As well as Emil Zatopek to the lanky athletes. He was characterized by special sprint abilities with long accelerations and an enormous tempo. Supervised by Ernst van Aaken , he caused a surprise at the 5000 meter run of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, when he left the favorites Michel Jazy and Ron Clarke behind and in the end behind Bob Schul in 13: 49.6 minutes Won silver medal.

At the European Indoor Games, which were held for the first time in Dortmund in 1966 , Norpoth won over 3000 meters and at the European Athletics Championships in Budapest in 1966 he won silver over 5000 meters and bronze over 1500 meters . In 1966 he set a world record in the 2000-meter run at the 5th International Stadium Games of TSV Hagen in 1860 . With 4: 57.8 min. He was the first runner to break the 5-minute mark. In 1968 he was involved in a world record in the 4-by-880-yard relay race . In 1966 and 1967, he set European records in the 5000 and 3000 meter races.

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City , he finished fourth over 1500 meters in 3: 42.5 minutes after having to give up on his special course, the 5000 meters, plagued by side stitches. He won another bronze medal at the European Championships in Helsinki in 1971 over 5000 meters. At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich he came in sixth place over 5000 meters in 13: 32.6 minutes.

Shortly before the start of the European Athletics Championships in Athens in 1969 , he was one of the spokespersons for the German team who advocated a solidarity boycott in favor of Jürgen May , who was not allowed to start because he had not changed his nationality but had changed his association. It then came to a boycott and so Norpoth, like the other German athletes, could not take advantage of his medal chances that year.

In addition, it played a major role in the European Athletics Cup , which was held for the first time in 1965 , which was much more important than it is today , when the World Athletics Championships were not yet on the program. Norpoth won at the European Cup Finals three times in a row 5000 meters - in 1965 in Stuttgart with 14: 18.0 minutes before Poland Witold Baran , 1967 in Kiev with 15: 26.8 minutes ago Jürgen Haase , DDR , 1970 in Stockholm with 14: 25.4 minutes before Gert Eisenberg , GDR. The European Cup races were tailored to Harald Norpoth. As a rule, it was pure lane separation, in which the Westphalian was able to particularly show off his great qualities with long spurts.

In 1973 Norpoth wanted his career to end slowly, like his club colleague Franz-Josef Kemper . But it turned out a little differently. Norpoth improved again in excellent form. First he defeated the young Olympic champion Steve Prefontaine over 5000 meters in the international match against the USA and improved his personal best here to 13: 20.6 min. After he had become German champion again, the DLV pushed him against his own intention to start again in the European Cup . Norpoth did this and achieved a very good third place in 13: 57.66 minutes behind Brendan Foster and Manfred Kuschmann ( European Athletics Cup 1973 in Edinburgh ).

His successes also include a total of 18 German championship titles over 1500 m, 5000 m and in the cross-country runs that he achieved between 1963 and 1973. In all important competitions Norpoth was at the forefront, he was never worse than sixth. He was characterized by great diligence in training and consistent preparation for the big events. For many people interested in sports, Harald Norpoth was an idol and role model. With his numerous successes and his great reliability over many years, he is one of the best German long-distance runners and was an absolute world class athlete in his time.

Further life

In the vicinity of his hometown Telgte near Münster he was a sports teacher at the sports school of the Bundeswehr in Warendorf from 1971 to 2002 . He first studied business administration and worked as an insurance agent. Later he began studying at the German Sport University Cologne , which he graduated as a certified sports teacher (diploma thesis: Comparative studies on the behavior of heart rate and blood lactate under gradual loads ). In 2002 he retired. He is married and has two children with his wife Marlies.

Football has always been his great love. Hindered by a knee problem, he was only able to practice this sport to a limited extent as an active player, but after finishing his running career he played at DJK Telgte and rose with the club from the second district class to the state league. In addition, Norpoth worked for many years as a successful soccer coach up to the association league. He even had a coaching license for the Bundesliga.

Honors

In 1964 Norpoth received the Silver Laurel Leaf and in 1970 the Rudolf Harbig Memorial Prize . At the Sports Ball in 1971 and 1973 he was named Sportsman of the Year by the Münster City Sports Association. On May 10, 1991 he received the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia .

Personal bests

  • 800 m : 1: 49.3 min, October 2, 1966, Herford
  • 1000 m : 2: 17.3 min, September 21, 1966, Hanover
  • 1500 m: 3: 39.7 min, September 17, 1966, Warsaw
  • 1 mile : 3: 57.2 min, September 7, 1971, Berlin
  • 2000 m: 4: 57.8 min, September 10, 1966, Hagen , then world record
  • 3000 m: 7: 45.1 min, June 6, 1967, Münster , then a European record
  • 5000 m: 13: 20.6 min, July 12, 1973, Munich , then all-German record

Records (chronological)

  • 1500 m: 3: 41.2 min, September 20, 1962, Warsaw , German record
  • 5000 m: 13: 48.4 min, 4th July 1964, Berlin , German record
  • 3000 m: 7: 55.2 min, July 5, 1965, Karlsruhe , German record
  • 5000 m: 13: 42.8 min, July 7, 1965, Berlin , German record
  • 5000 m: 13: 24.8 min, June 7, 1966, Cologne , European record
  • 2000 m: 4: 57.8 min, September 10, 1966, Hagen , world record
  • 5000 m: 13: 20.6 min, July 12, 1973, Munich , all-German record
  • 4 x 880 yards relay: 7: 14.6 min, June 13, 1968, Fulda ( Bodo Tümmler , Walter Adams , Harald Norpoth, Franz-Josef Kemper ), world record
  • 3 x 1000 meter relay: 7: 01.2 min, July 17, 1966, Hamm ( Franz-Josef Kemper , Wolf-Jochen Schulte-Hillen , Harald Norpoth), until today (November 2017) valid German record for Club relay

literature

  • Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine by Tom Jordan, Rodale Books 1997

Web links

Commons : Harald Norpoth  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald Norpoth's biography on the website whoswho.de
  2. ^ Arnd Krüger : A Cultural Revolution? The Boycott of the European Athletics Championships by the West German Team in Athens 1969, in: European Committee for Sports History (Ed.): Proceedings Fourth Annual Conference . Volume 1. Florence: Universitá 1999, 162 - 166.
  3. ↑ The Happy Rower, Steve Prefontaine, no.19, July 12, 1973 International 5000m Race, Munich, Germany on the website flickr.com
  4. ↑ Merit holders since 1986. (PDF) State Chancellery of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on March 11, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Norpoth, Harald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German middle and long distance runner
DATE OF BIRTH August 22, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Muenster