The Rudolf Harbig Memorial Award () is an annual sports award in recognition of German competitors in the sport of athletics who, in performance and attitude, have been role models for young people. The award was created in 1950, named after German middle-distance runner Rudolf Harbig, who died age 30 fighting for the Wehrmacht in World War II. The award was suggested by the Clubs der Alten Meister (Old Masters Club), a union of former athletes and made official by Karl Ritter von Halt, the former leader of the National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise. Given by the German Athletics Association (DLV), the award was for West German athletes only prior to German reunification.Schwenk, Gustav (2013-11-09). Rudolf Harbig - Tragisches Ende des Laufhelden. Leichtathletik. Retrieved 2019-07-22.Rudolf-Harbig-Preis an Frank Busemann. Leichtathletik (2004-07-10). Retrieved 2019-07-22.
The prize may only be awarded once to an athlete, who is selected by an internal German Athletics Association panel. The DLV president gives the award at the German Athletics Championships each year, a tradition started at the championships in 1950. The award was historically mostly been given to men (37 male to 13 female winners in its first 50 years) – prior to 2005, a female winner had succeeded another woman on one occasion only. Men and women have received the honour in roughly equal frequency since 1999.
Winners
YearWinnerSexEvent1950 Alfred Dompert Male Steeplechase1951 Karl Wolf Male Hammer1952 Hermann Eberlein Male Long-distance1953 Heinz Ulzheimer Male Middle-distance1954 Karl Storch Male Hammer1955 Herbert Schade Male Long-distance1956 Maria Sander Female Hurdles1957 Karl-Friedrich Haas Male Sprints1958 Heinz Fütterer Male Sprints1959 Marianne Werner Female Shot put1960 Manfred Germar Male Sprints1961 Paul Schmidt Male Middle-distance1962 Karl Hein Male Hammer1963 Helmut Janz Male Hurdles1964 Erika Fisch Female Long jump1965 Manfred Kinder Male Sprints1966 Helga Hoffmann Female Long jump1967 Klaus Lehnertz Male High jump1968 Hinrich John Male Hurdles1969 Ingrid Becker Female Pentathlon1970 Harald Norpoth Male Long-distance1971 Hermann Salomon Male Javelin1972 Horst Beyer Male Decathlon1973 Heide Rosendahl Female Pentathlon1974 Bernd Kannenberg Male Racewalking1975 Michael Sauer Male Triple jump1976 Rita Wilden Female Sprints1977 Annegret Richter Female Sprints1978 Klaus Wolfermann Male Javelin1979 Gerhard Weidner Male Racewalking1980 Franz-Peter Hofmeister Male Sprints1981 Guido Kratschmer Male Decathlon1982 Karl-Hans Riehm Male Hammer1983 Ulrike Meyfarth Female High jump1984 Willi Wülbeck Male Middle-distance1985 Thomas Wessinghage Male Middle-distance1986 Brigitte Kraus Female Middle-distance1987 Harald Schmid Male Hurdles1988 Dietmar Mögenburg Male High jump1989 Rolf Danneberg Male Discus1990 Claudia Losch Female Shot put1991 Hans Grodotzki Male Long-distance1992 Heike Henkel Female High jump1993 Hartwig Gauder Male Racewalking1994 Thomas Schönlebe Male Sprints1995 Christian Schenk Male Decathlon1996 Dieter Baumann Male Long-distance1997 Steffen Brand Male Steeplechase1998 Florian Schwarthoff Male Hurdles1999 Heike Drechsler Female Long jump2000 Heinz Weis Male Hammer2001 Jürgen Schult Male Discus2002 Sabine Braun Female Heptathlon2003 Lars Riedel Male Discus2004 Frank Busemann Male Decathlon2005 Astrid Kumbernuss Female Shot2006 Franka Dietzsch Female Discus2007 Charles Friedek Male Triple jump2008 Steffi Nerius Female Javelin2009 Nadine Kleinert Female Shot put2010 Ingo Schultz Male Sprints2011 Tim Lobinger Male Pole vault2012 Ralf Bartels Male Shot put2013 Björn Otto Male Pole vault2014 Betty Heidler Female Hammer2015 Christian Reif Male Long jump2016 Verena Sailer Female Sprints2017 Christina Obergföll Female Javelin2018 Linda Stahl Female Javelin2019Robert HartingMaleDiscus2022Christina SchwanitzFemaleShot put2023Cindy RolederFemaleHurdles
References
List of winners Rudolf-Harbig-Gedächtnispreis. Leichtathletik. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
External links Official German Athletics Association website