Franz-Josef Kemper (born 30 September 1945) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

athlete, Olympian, and official. He achieved his greatest success as a middle-distance runner in the 1960s and 1970s.Franz-Josef Kemper
. sports-reference.com

Sports career

Kemper won five German outdoor titles in the 800 metres, in 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970 and 1971. In 1966, he set a new

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

record as well as

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the 1,000 metres and the 4×800 metres relay. He took part in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, and finished fourth in the 800 metres at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. In 1967, Kemper was awarded the

Silberne Lorbeerblatt Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Laurel Leaf), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and ...

, the highest German athletics award.

Official career

Kemper studied sports, and German language and literature, at the

University of Münster The University of Münster (german: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of stud ...

and sociology at the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt. At the TH Darmstadt, he received a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1980. Since the year 2000, Kemper has been the assistant director and director of the sports department and holds an honorary position in the Ministry of the Interior and Sport in Rhineland Palatinate. In March 2003, he was appointed by the council of ministers of the federal states as the national delegate to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

. He has held this office since 15 April 2004. In 1989 Kemper married

Sylvia Schenk Sylvia Schenk (born 1 June 1952) is a German middle-distance runner. She competed in the women's 800 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics for West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of German ...

, a jurist and former Olympic 800 m runner.

Honorary appointments

*1989–1993: Kemper belonged to the Presidium of the Deutschen Leichtathletik-Verbandes (DLV). *1989–1998: A member of the Federal Board on Popular Sports in the Deutschen Sportbund (DSB). *1995–1998: Chairman of the Working Group on "Sports in Health" of the DSB.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemper, Franz-Josef 1945 births Living people West German male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of West Germany European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for West Germany People from Steinfurt (district) Sportspeople from Münster (region) Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade