Toni Merkens

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nikolaus Anton "Toni" Merkens (born June 21, 1912 in Cologne , † June 20, 1944 in Wildbad ) was a German racing cyclist . In 1936 he was Olympic champion in the sprint .

Cycling career

Toni Merkens was born as the son of the locksmith Peter Merkens. His older brother Jupp gave him his first bike as a present, and he later acted as his pacemaker in standing races . He trained as a bicycle mechanic with Fritz Köthke, a well-known frame builder in Cologne at the time. His nickname was et Föttche ( the buttocks ). During this time he joined RC Schmitter . In 1933 he won his first German championship title in the sprint. In 1934 he was able to repeat this success and also won the Open British Championships and the Grand Prix de Paris . At the rail world championships in Leipzig in the same year , he took fourth place. In 1935 he won again the championship in the sprint of Germany and Great Britain and the Paris Grand Prix.

Although there are some indications that Merkens would have liked to become a professional , he remained an amateur until 1937 , probably on the orders of the Reichsradsportführer, who wanted to see the athlete compete in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin . In March 1936 the association magazine Der Deutsche Radfahrer published a call from Merkens for the upcoming Reichstag election : “This historic act in connection with the introduction of general conscription makes the heart of every sports fan beat faster and we look up to our ingenious Führer and People's Chancellor in gratitude Adolf Hitler."

At the World Championships in Brussels in 1935 , Merkens was also able to win the title when he defeated the Dutchman Arie van Vliet with 2-1 runs in the final . At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Merkens was the favorite after the successful 1935 season. In the final he met van Vliet again. Merkens won both races, but the Dutch protested against the ranking of the first run because Merkens had obstructed van Vliet. The jury decided that the run should be scored, but Merkens had to pay a fine of 100 gold francs for leaving the driving line. This minor penalty is a unique case in Olympic history. Merkens carried the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony .

Immediately after the Olympic Games in 1936, Merkens joined the professional camp. However, he did not contest his first race as a professional driver in his specialist discipline, the Sprint, but in the two-team driving with Gottfried Hürtgen the Londone r Six Days . In 1937 and 1939 he was German sprint runner-up. In 1940 he was German champion of the stayers, in 1941 runner-up; In 1942, Merkens was also German champion in the sprint for the professionals and again runner-up in the standing group.

Anton Merkens - war grave in Cologne's southern cemetery

Death in the hospital

In 1942, Merkens was drafted into the Wehrmacht . On the Eastern Front , a shrapnel struck him between his heart and lungs. In 1944 he fell ill with meningitis in a hospital in Wildbad and died.

His tomb is located on one of the German war cemeteries of Cologne crematorium and the cemetary (hall 44 E no. 75).

Commemoration

Memorial stone for Toni Merkens at the Radstadion Cologne

In Munich's Olympic Park , the Toni-Merkens-Weg leads from the Olympic Stadium to the Radstadion; the bicycle stadium, which is now used as an event arena, has the address Toni-Merkens-Weg 4. In front of the Cologne bicycle stadium , the “ Olympic oak ” reminds of Merkens, which he received with his Olympic victory and which he planted himself there. A memorial stone with the inscription "Grow for honor, call for further action", which was erected in 1948, commemorates him.

Trivia

In Great Britain there was a cyclist in the 1960s whose grandfather was a great admirer of Toni Merkens and had known him personally. At the suggestion of this man, his grandson was baptized "Toni Merkens Edward Smith". This started in 1967 in the British White Hope Race, a sprinter tournament for young drivers.

literature

  • Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle I. Athens 1896 - Berlin 1936. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00715-6 .
  • Pascal Sergent, Guy Crasset, Hervé Dauchy: Mondial Encyclopedie Cyclisme. Volume 3: G-P. published in 2000 by the UCI, ISBN 90-74128-73-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see civil status archive Cologne deaths 1948. Volume 2, No. 647.
  2. ↑ a b c d Gabi Langen: 'Qercus Peduncalata' - the Olympic oak by Toni Merkens on the 'Albert-Richter-Bahn' in Cologne . In: Institute for Sports History and Carl and Liselott Diem Archive - Olympic Research Center of the German Sport University Cologne (Ed.): Olympically Moved - Festschrift for the 60th birthday of Prof. Dr. Manfred Lammer . Cologne 2003, p. 157 .
  3. ↑ a b Presidium of the Cycling Section of the GDR (ed.): Cycling Week . No. 2/1954 . Sportverlag, Berlin, p. 12 .
  4. ^ Horst Nordmann, Fritz and Mika Hahn: Kölsche Zweiradgeschichten. Pioneers, racing drivers, destinies. Cologne 2003, p. 128.
  5. ^ Association of German cyclists (ed.): Radsport . No. 9/1967 . Deutscher Sportverlag Kurt Stoof, Cologne 1967, p. 7 .
personal data
SURNAME Notice, Toni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Remember, Nikolaus Anton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German racing cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH June 21, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH June 20, 1944
Place of death Wildbad