Frank Schaffer (born 23 October 1958 in Stalinstadt (today Eisenhüttenstadt),

Bezirk Frankfurt The Bezirk Frankfurt, also Bezirk Frankfurt (Oder), was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Frankfurt (Oder). History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substitut ...

) is an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

retired

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. He won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

in a lifetime best time of 44.87 seconds. He also assisted the East German team of Klaus Thiele, Andreas Knebel and Volker Beck in winning the silver medal in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

. His personal best time of 44.87 seconds ranks him eighth among German 400 m sprinters, behind

Thomas Schönlebe Thomas Schönlebe (born 6 August 1965) is a retired East German track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres. He won the gold medal at the 1987 World Championships. In that race, he set a European record of 44.33 seconds which stood ...

, Erwin Skamrahl, Ingo Schultz,

Karl Honz Karl Honz (born 28 January 1951) is a retired German sprinter. He held the European record in the 400 metres from 1972 until 1980 with a time of 44.70 s. At the 1972 Summer Olympics he placed seventh in the 400 m and fourth in the 4 × 400 m ...

Hartmut Weber Hartmut Weber (born 17 October 1960 in Kamen) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the 400 metres. At the 1982 European Championships he won the gold medal with a lifetime best of 44.72 seconds. He also helped win the 4 � ...

, Mathias Schersing and

Jens Carlowitz Jens Carlowitz (born 8 August 1964 in Karl-Marx-Stadt) is a retired East German sprinter. His personal best time was 44.86 seconds, achieved at the 1989 World Cup in Barcelona. This places him seventh on the German all-time list, behind Thomas ...

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Frank Schaffer retired from athletics in 1984.

References

1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Eisenhüttenstadt Sportspeople from Bezirk Frankfurt East German male sprinters Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze East German Athletics Championships winners {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub