Karl Hein

Karl Hein (born June 11, 1908 in Hamburg ; † July 10, 1982 ibid) was a German hammer thrower and Olympic champion .

As a young man he was a discus thrower, shot putter and all-rounder. After his marriage, he gave up the sport in the early 1930s. In 1934 he saw the film about the 1932 Olympic Games and was particularly impressed by the Irish hammer throw Olympic champion Pat O'Callaghan . He then turned back to the sport and won the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin with the Olympic record of 56.49 m. Two years later he won the European Athletics Championships in 1938 with 58.77 m.

After the Second World War he remained active for a long time. In 1956, at the age of 48, he was still German runner-up. As a 65-year-old he still achieved a distance of 53 meters in a hammer throw. He started for SV St. Georg Hamburg and trained with Sepp Christmann . In the 1950s he moved to Hamburger SV . In his active time he was 1.79 m tall and 103 kg.

Hein won a total of five German championship titles (1936, 1937, 1938, 1946 and 1947), was runner-up three times (1942, 1943, 1956) and achieved three third places (1939, 1941 and 1948)

Karl Hein died at the age of 74. He found his final resting place in the Ohlsdorf cemetery in his hometown of Hamburg.