Ursula Donath

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Ursula Donath wins the 1955 GDR championships in the forest

Ursula ( "Ulla" ) Donath , b. Jurewitz, (born July 30, 1931 in Frauenburg , Latvia ), is a former German athlete and Olympic participant who won the bronze medal in the 800-meter run at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome . She started for the GDR in the joint team of both German states.

Under her maiden name Ursula Jurewitz, she set the first GDR world record recognized by the International Athletics Federation ( IAAF ) on August 19, 1953 : 2: 12.6 min over 880 yards, run in Budapest , at the same time the GDR record over 800 meters ( 2: 11.8 min).

In 1952 she was the first GDR champion in the 800-meter run. Between 1953 and 1955, she set three European records in the 400-meter run (55.7 s, June 25, 1953 in Berlin ; 55.0 s, August 6, 1954 in Budapest ; 54.4 s, August 5, 1955 in Warsaw ), they were also world bests (the IAAF only set records from January 1, 1957). At the Olympic Games, these routes were not yet in the program, so that she missed the 1956 Olympic Games . GDR athletes were not allowed to start at the 1954 European Championships in Bern .

With a height of 1.67 m, she had a competition weight of 54 kg.

In 1958 she became the mother of a son, which is why she was unable to take part in the European Championships . In 1962 a daughter was born.

The Jurewitz family was first relocated from Latvia to Poznań in Poland in 1941 ; after the Second World War she grew up in Luckenwalde .

Ursula Donath belonged to the SC Chemie Halle and trained with Ewald Mertens until 1957 and later with her husband, Rolf Donath (1951 GDR champion in the 800-meter run , 1952 GDR champion in the 1500-meter run ). In 1961 she ended her sports career. In 1960 she was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze. Until 1991 she worked as a sports teacher at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg.

She lives in Halle (Saale) as a pensioner and grandmother of five grandchildren .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ New Germany , October 7, 1960, p. 4

Web links

Commons : Ursula Donath  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Donath, Ursula
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jurewitz, Ursula (maiden name); Donath, Ulla; Brehme, Ulla
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German athlete and Olympic medalist
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Frombork , Latvia