Sepp Christmann

Sepp Christmann (born  September 22, 1895 in Bingen , †  April 11, 1977 in Wetzlar ) was a German trainer for several sports. In particular, he was active in football , hammer throw , shot put and discus throw . He led many of his students to medal successes at the Olympic Games and record performances in their disciplines.

Life

Sepp Christmann was born on September 22nd, 1895 in Bingen and grew up there. In his younger years he did a commercial training.

He began his sporting activity at the Hassia club in Bingen with football, fistball, drum ball, running and throwing, stone and shot put, and pole vault.

In 1914 he took part in the sports festival in Kempten (Bingen). In 1913/14 the construction of a sports field on the Rochusberg in Bingen took place in-house. A few weeks before the outbreak of World War I , he continued his education in England. In the Battle of Verdun he was injured by a shot in the head (the bullet entered and exited between skin and bone).

After the war he returned to sport and was active as a tennis and soccer coach for a while.

In 1935 he became Olympic trainer for the German hammer throwers. When choosing his students, he paid less attention to heavy athletes, but rather to fast and strong athletes (was not necessarily common at the time). At that time he developed his own technique (heel ball technique) for hammer throwing. At the Olympic Games in 1936 , his students Karl Hein and Erwin Blask win gold and silver medals. This was followed by further coaching work in popular sports with the shot put, discus throw and decathlon.

In 1942 he had to go back to war and was taken prisoner by the Soviets until 1947.

He then lived with his family in Marktheidenfeld am Main. He was married to Anneliese geb. Henrichs and father of two children (Monika and Bernd Christmann).

He worked as a sports coach in the British Army.

In 1949 he was employed by the German Athletics Association until 1954. In the meantime, he received an offer from Juan Perón as a coach in Argentina.

From 1954 until his retirement in 1960 he worked as the sports department manager in Wetzlar .

In the years 1960–1970 he worked as a sports teacher for the athletes Eintracht Frankfurt.

On April 11, 1977 he died of cancer in Wetzlar an der Lahn.

student

• Hal Connolly (USA), hammer throw (Olympic champion 1956 in Melbourne and various world records)
• Karl Wolf , hammer throw
• Karl Hein , hammer throw (Olympic champion 1936 in Berlin)
• Imre Németh (Hungary), world record and Olympic champion in London in 1948
• Fritz Müller , decathlon
• Rudolf Glötzner , decathlon
• Ernst Schmidt , decathlon
• Willy Schröder , discus throw world record and European champion
• Karl Storch , hammer throw (silver medal 1952 in Helsinki)
• József Csermák (Hungary), hammer throw (gold medal 1952 in Helsinki)
• Erwin Blask , hammer throw (silver medal in Berlin in 1936 and world record in 1938)

Books by Sepp Christmann

• Spear and Hammer (1951)
• Sphere and Discus (1951)

Web links

• Report by Harold Connolly with and about Sepp Christmann