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Waldemar Cierpinski (born August 3, 1950) is a former East German athlete, two times Olympic Champion in marathon.Born in Neugattersleben , East Germany, Waldemar Cierpinski was originally a quite successful steeplechase runner, but decided to switch to marathon in 1974.
He was virtually unknown, when he entered the 1976 Olympic marathon. He ran in the leading group until Frank Shorter from United States broke free after the 25 km mark. Cierpinski chased Shorter down and went to lead by himself, winning the race by 51 seconds.
Cierpinski finished in fourth place at the 1978 European Championships, but went to 1980 Summer Olympics to defend his Olympic title stronger as ever. Cierpinski ran wisely and didn't follow the suicidal tempo the leaders had taken. He caught up the leaders at the 36 km mark and soon was leading in a healthy gap. Although Gerard Nijboer from the Netherlands reduced the gap in thel last kilometre fast, Cierpnski sprinted the last 200 m in a very fast tempo to gain his second Olympic gold and duplicate the feat of legendary Ethiopian Abebe Bikila in winning two Olympic marathons. He also finished third at the first World ChampionshipsThe 1983 World Championships in Athletics were the first World Championships and run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between August 7 and August 14. Medal W.
Waldemar Cierpinski is now a member of German Olympic Committee.
Cierpinski, Waldemar
Cierpinski, Waldemar
