Wolfgang Dittrich

This article deals with the athlete Wolfgang Dittrich; for the librarian of the same name, see Wolfgang Dittrich (Librarian) .

0 Wolfgang Dittrich
Personal information
Date of birth	1962
place of birth	Neuss
societies
successes
1981	Military world champion over 400 meter medley
1987	German champion triathlon short distance
1993	3rd place Ironman Hawaii
status
resigned

Wolfgang Dittrich (* 1962 in Neuss ) is a former German triathlete and swimmer and German triathlon champion (1987).

Career

Military world champion swimming 1981

Before starting his triathlon career, Wolfgang Dittrich was a member of the German national swimming team and in 1981 became the military world champion in the 400 meter medley.

Dittrich was later considered the fastest swimmer among the Ironman athletes during his active time , who was also able to keep up with the world's best in the other two disciplines. He dominated the swim course in Hawaii and won the opening discipline in 1987 and 1989 to 1993.

In 1987, after winning the German triathlon championship, his hometown Neuss voted him “Sportsman of the Year”.

Dittrich, together with Jürgen Zäck and Dirk Aschmoneit, formed the dominant "Big Three" over the Ironman distance (3.86 km swimming, 180.2 km cycling and 42.195 km running) in Germany at the beginning of the 1990s.

3rd place Ironman Hawaii 1993

In 1993 he was the first German to be on the podium at the Ironman Hawaii - with third place.
During the final preparation phase for the Ironman Hawaii 1994, Dittrich had to seek medical treatment in Encinitas , California , after a bike fall, with knee problems and buried his ambitions for a possible Hawaii victory.

A serious joint infection of the knee followed, which almost led to a sudden end to his career. Due to this infection, the rehabilitation dragged on, so that Dittrich could not start again in an Ironman competition until 1996. With a lead of over ten minutes, however, he had to end his first race at the Ironman Japan because of a front wheel defect.

From 1996 he started again at Ironman Hawaii, always came out of the water with the leading group, but was unable to build on his top times, especially in terms of running. In 1998, he finished his last race in Hawaii prematurely on the bike course due to stomach problems. The 1998 Steel Town Man in Linz , Austria, was his first and only victory in a long distance.

After his professional career, Dittrich works as a sports advisor and swimming coach. He organizes seminars, courses, training camps and project events.

He has been married to professional triathlete Leslie Benson Dittrich since November 2002 and lives in Boulder (USA).

Sporting successes

(DNF - Did Not Finish)

Top times at the Ironman Hawaii

• Best swimming time: 1991 in 48:02 min.
• Best cycling time: 1993 in 4:30:29 hours
• Best running time: 1992 in 2:56:27 hours
• Best time at the finish: 1993 in 8:20:13 hours

Top times at Ironman Europe (in Roth)

• Best swimming times:
  • 1998 in 44:36 min.
  • 1990 in 45:11 min.
  • 1994 in 45:49 min.
  • 1991 in 46:36 min.
• Best cycling time:
  • 1993 in 4:26:45 hours

Web links

• Wolfgang Dittrich - a portrait . In: tri2b.com .
• Kai Baumgartner: On the 40th birthday of Wolfgang Dittrich . In: 3athlon.de . March 20, 2003. Archived from the original on September 15, 2004.
• Wolfgang Dittrich in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
• Profile and results of Wolfgang Dittrich in the ITU database at Triathlon.org , accessed on November 23, 2017 (English).
• Profile for Wolfgang Dittrich at the Institute for Applied Training Science , accessed on September 3, 2014

literature

• Babbitt, Bob: "25 Years of the Ironman Triathlon World Championship"