German federation mourns death of 1972 Olympics 100m hurdle champion

Annelie Ehrhardt X (Twitter)

German federation mourns death of 1972 Olympics 100m hurdle champion

Evans Ousuru 18:54 - 25.10.2024

She also claimed multiple medals at the European Indoor Championships, including gold in 1972 and 1973.

The athletics fraternity is deeply saddened to hear that Annelie Ehrhardt, the 1972 Olympic 100m hurdles champion, has died at the age of 74.

Ehrhardt won her Olympic title for East Germany in a world record of 12.59 and she went on to become European champion two years later, running a championship record of 12.66 in Rome. In doing so, she claimed a second European medal, following the silver she secured in Helsinki in 1971.

She also claimed multiple medals at the European Indoor Championships, including gold in 1972 and 1973.

Ehrhardt returned to the Olympic stage in Montreal in 1976, when she reached the semifinals of the 100m hurdles. That was to be her final competitive appearance.

“With the loss of Germany's first Olympic champion in the history of the sprint hurdles, German athletics has lost an outstanding personality in German sport," said the German athletics federation according to World Athletics.

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