Holdorf first played soccer and handball in his youth . He only found track and field by chance when he won the national sprint championships at the age of 18. Later he worked as a pole vaulter and discus thrower. Through the results lists of the decathlon that he could reach, he was encouraged to try this too. Here he was German junior champion at the age of 19 and 20 and only narrowly missed the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome . In the meantime he began studying at the Sport University in Cologne .
After Willi Holdorf had won the German championship title in 1961 and 1963 in the decathlon and in 1962 in the 200 meter hurdles , he achieved his greatest success at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo . In an exciting final against Rein Aun from the Soviet Union, he became the first German to win the Olympic decathlon. In the final 1500 meter run , he was allowed to lose a maximum of 18 seconds to his rival. When he finally crossed the finish line 12 seconds after Aun, he collapsed exhausted and was only able to look forward to winning the gold medal some time later. The following overview shows the balance between the two athletes. It was the closest decision in an Olympic decathlon to date. The fourth-placed American Paul Herman achieved only 100 points less than Holdorf.
discipline
100 m
Far
Bullet
High
400 m
obstacles
discus
Rod
spear
1500 m
Points
Holdorf
10.7 s
7.00 m
14.95 m
1.84 m
48.2 s
15.2 s
46.05 m
4.20 m
57.37 m
4: 34.3 min
7887
Aun
10.9 s
7.22 m
13.82 m
1.93 m
48.8 s
15.9 s
44.19 m
4.20 m
59.06 m
4: 22.3 min
7842
His greatest success, which earned him the title of Sportsman of the Year in Germany in 1964 , was also his last decathlon on an international level. He made another in Leverkusen in 1969 with 7170 points. Willi Holdorf was 1.82 m tall and had a competition weight of 90 kg as a decathlete.
Prime Minister Helmut Lemke (right) honors the participants in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. l. To the right: Willi Holdorf, Kurt Jarasinski, Hans-Helmut Trense, Rudi Bortz, the rowers of the Ratzeburg eight, Bruno Splieth, Uwe Beyer, Lutz Philipp
Later, in addition to his voluntary work in many areas of sport, he has worked for a large sporting goods manufacturer since 1970 and is a co-partner of THW Kiel Handball Bundesliga GmbH & Co. KG , which forms the foundation for the handball Bundesliga club THW Kiel .
In his first marriage Holdorf was married to the handball national player Doris von Jutrzenka , their son Dirk Holdorf became a professional footballer. Holdorf was married to Sabine Holdorf-Schust (* 1954) since December 2002. From April 2009 to January 2013 she was managing director of THW Kiel Handball-Bundesliga Verwaltungs GmbH.