Manfred Preussger

Manfred Preußger during training

Manfred Preußger (born July 10, 1932 in Schönlinde , Czechoslovakia ) is a German athlete who was a successful pole vaulter for the GDR in the 1950s and 1960s .

His greatest success is the silver medal at the European Championships in 1958 (4.50 m). In a total of eight hours of competition he was defeated by Eeles Landström ( Finland ), who also jumped 4.50 m high. Manfred Preussger came after the Second World War to Kamenz ( Sachsen ). At the Workers and Farmers Faculty (ABF) he acquired his university entrance qualification and began studying sport at the GDR Sport University DHfK in Leipzig in 1952 . After he had previously done self-taught pole vaulting, he began there with performance training with trainer Fritz Koch.

In 1955 he achieved his first GDR record (4.25 m), in 1957 he was second in the World Student Games (later Universiade ) with 4.40 m . When he took part in the Olympic Games three times in 1956 , he was eighth (4.25 m), in 1960 he was eliminated from the qualification, in 1964 he was fourth (5.00 m). At the European Championships in 1962 , he finished eighth (4.50 m) after he switched from metal rod to fiberglass rod in 1961. He was GDR champion eight times: 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964.

Manfred Preußger was captain of the GDR national athletics team for several years and from 1961 to 1966 a member of the presidium of the GDR sports association DTSB . In 1965 he resigned from active sport, from 1967 he was a teacher at the Institute for Foreign Studies at DHfK. Manfred Preußger belonged to the SC DHfK and trained with Fritz Koch and Gerhard Jeitner . During his competition time he was 1.79 m tall and weighed 73 kg. He lives in Gerichshain , Machern district .

Records

(GDR records marked with * were also the best German performance)

• 4.25 m, GDR record *, May 22, 1955, Stuttgart
• 4.30 m, GDR record *, June 19, 1955, Warsaw ( Poland )
• 4.35 m, GDR record *, June 3, 1956, Hamm
• 4.45 m, GDR record *, August 11, 1956, Lappeenranta ( Finland )
• 4.52 m, European record, May 19, 1957, Potsdam
• 4.55 m, GDR record *, June 8, 1958, Leipzig
• 4.56 m, GDR record *, July 26, 1958, Leipzig
• 4.60 m, GDR record *, July 3, 1960, Moscow ( USSR )
• 4.65 m, European record, August 10, 1960, Magdeburg
• 4.67 m, European record, June 23, 1961, Berlin
• 4.70 m, European record, October 4, 1961, Magdeburg
• 4.72 m, GDR record *, June 30, 1962, Potsdam
• 4.81 m, GDR record *, August 22, 1962, Jena
• 4.85 m, GDR record, September 1, 1963, Jena
• 4.90 m, GDR record, May 9, 1964, Leipzig
• 4.95 m, GDR record *, June 18, 1964, Sofia ( Bulgaria )
• 5.02 m, European record, June 21, 1964, Leipzig
• 5.15 m, European record, August 27, 1964, Leipzig

literature

• Klaus Amrhein: Biographical manual on the history of German athletics 1898–2005 . 2 volumes. Darmstadt 2005 published on German Athletics Promotion and Project Society

Web links

Commons : Manfred Preußger  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files