Roland Watschke

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Roland Watschke (born May 6, 1934 ) is a former German long-distance runner .

Career

Watschke began his career as a runner at OSC Waldniel in Waldniel on the Lower Rhine and was trained there by Ernst van Aaken . At first he ran competitions over the 400-meter course , but in coordination with his trainer he turned into a long-distance runner. The 5000 meter run and the 10,000 meter run became the most important competition disciplines for him. From Waldniel, Watschke switched to Weseler TV . He stayed in Wesel for only one year, but this year he achieved his first major successes. At the German Athletics Championships in 1959 , he took third place in the men's 10,000 meter run. Among his club colleagues in Wesel was Ludwig Müller , who was competing in the same disciplines and was known as the "Hero of Augsburg".

After his stint at Weseler TV, Watschke joined VfL Wolfsburg in 1960 . At the German Athletics Championships he was able to build on his first success and became German champions over 10,000 meters in 1960 and 1961. In 1961 he also won the championship title in the 5000-meter run. He was unable to build on that in 1962, but in the 10,000 meter run he finished third again. In total, he won three gold and two bronze medals at German championships. Watschke's main strength was his particularly fast final sprint. As a result, it was often possible for him in competitions to take the top position just before the end and win the race. His best times for the 3000 meter distance are 8: 04.2 min (established in 1961 in Turku , Finland), for the 5000 meter distance to 14: 00.0 min (established in 1961 at the German Championships in Düsseldorf ) and for the 10,000 meter run to 29: 29.4 min (established in 1962 at the German Championships in Hamburg).

In his main job Watschke obtained a leading position in the systems analysis division at Volkswagen . In 1993 he retired.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b ARRS - Runner: Roland Watschke (more.arrs.run)
  2. ↑ a b c d StaffelStab - Athletics in Lower Saxony (multimediapdf.de)
  3. ↑ a b Athletics - German Championships (10000m men) (sport-komplett.de)
  4. ↑ Athletics - German Championships (5000m - men) (sport-komplett.de)
personal data
SURNAME Watschke, Roland
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German athlete
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1934