Ellen Tittel (later Wellmann, later Wessinghage, 28 June 1948 – 7 October 2023) was a West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 m event. She won the European indoor title in 1973, placing third in 1975, and had another third-place finish at the 1971 European Outdoor Championships. She reached the 1500 m finals at the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

, but abandoned the 1972 race due to stomach cramps. In 1971 she helped to set a new world record in the 4 × 800 m relay. Domestically Tittel set a national record in 1969 and won the national title in 1970–76. In 1975 she was chosen the

German Sportspersonality of the Year The German Sportspersonality of the Year () has been chosen annually since 1947, with separate awards made for men and women. The record holder is tennis player Steffi Graf, who won five awards. Swimmer Michael Groß, tennis player Boris Becker, a ...

. Tittel won the British

WAAA Championships The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime. Since 1880, the Amateur Athl ...

title in the 1500 metres event at the

1972 WAAA Championships The 1972 WAAA Championships were the national track and field championships for women in the United Kingdom. The event was held at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London, from 7 to 8 July 1972. Results + Held on 1 July at Birm ...

. Tittel was a lawyer by profession. Before turning to athletics she tried gymnastics, but found it too boring. She married two fellow Olympic middle-distance runners, first

Paul-Heinz Wellmann Paul-Heinz Wellmann (born 31 March 1952, in Haiger) is a former West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres. As a teenager he won the silver medal at the 1970 European Junior Championships. He then finished seventh ...

, and a few years later

Thomas Wessinghage Thomas Wessinghage (born 22 February 1952 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former middle- and long-distance runner who won the 1982 European Championships' final over 5000 metres beating the British world-record holder David Moorc ...

. With Wessinghage she had a son Daniel. She died on 7 October 2023, at the age of 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tittel, Ellen 1948 births 2023 deaths People from Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge German female middle-distance runners Athletes from Saxony Olympic athletes for West Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) European Athletics Championships medalists FISU World University Games gold medalists for West Germany West German Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1975 Summer Universiade 20th-century German sportswomen