Karl-Heinz Balzer (athlete)

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Karl-Heinz Balzer (born May 9, 1921 in Prussian Holland , East Prussia , † December 22, 2007 ) was a German athletics trainer . With 21 medals won by the athletes he supervised at the Olympic Games, World and European Championships, he is one of the most successful athletics coaches of all time. In particular, he was involved in the success of his wife Karin Balzer (Olympic champion and world record holder in hurdles ).

Sports career

Karl-Heinz Balzer was already a promising jumper at the age of 18 in 1939 when he jumped 1.81 m in the high jump and 3.25 m in the pole vault .

During the Second World War he was stationed on the battleship Tirpitz in the 11th Division, survived its sinking on November 12, 1944 and was captured by the Allies .

After the war, he continued his athletic career in the GDR from the late 1940s to 1954 . In the pole vault he was GDR champion from 1949 to 1954 and set several GDR records. He achieved his best performance of 4.10 m on July 31, 1954 in Leipzig. He represented the GDR in three international athletics competitions. He was denied participation in international highlights because the GDR was not yet recognized by the world sports federations during his active time.

Karl-Heinz Balzer also started in the long jump and achieved his best performance in 1952 with a width of 6.71 m.

Coaching career

At the end of his sports career he devoted himself to his coaching ambition and trained the pole vaulter Randolf Peukert at the same time (GDR championships: second place in 1953, behind Karl-Heinz Balzer; third place in 1957, second place in 1958). At the same time he studied at Moscow's Lomonosov University .

From 1954 to 1958 he was a pole vault instructor in the GDR.

During this time, Karl-Heinz Balzer became the trainer of the sprinter and hurdler Karin Richert - and later also her partner. In 1958 both left the GDR and settled in Ludwigshafen , but returned after a year. Karin Richert was banned from competitions for one year; Karl-Heinz Balzer was not allowed to accompany her to competitions abroad until 1966.

They married in 1961, and his wife achieved her world fame under the name Karin Balzer.

From 1965 to 1976 he was a hurdle sprint instructor in the GDR and the socialist camp.

He contributed significantly to the further development of the women's hurdles and wrote several teaching letters and educational films. Karl-Heinz Balzer also led to world class, among others, Regina Höfer (European champion 1969) and Christina Heinich (Olympic runner-up 1972), Kerstin Knabe (world championship runner-up 1983) and Anja Rücker (including world champion 1997).

Due to a paraplegia, Karl-Heinz Balzer has been able to work almost exclusively in an advisory capacity since 1976. From 1988 he and his wife trained his son Falk Balzer (* 1973), who was second in the European Championship and World Cup winner in the 110 m hurdles in 1998 . From 2006 he worked as a trainer for the RBA Chemnitz .

Familiar

The first son (* 1965) of Karl-Heinz and Karin Balzer died at the age of seven in 1972 in a traffic accident, one day before the Olympic finals, in which Karin Balzer won the bronze medal.

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personal data
SURNAME Balzer, Karl-Heinz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German athletics trainer
DATE OF BIRTH May 9, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Prussian Holland , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH December 22, 2007