Karl Honz (born 28 January 1951) is a retired German sprinter. He held the European record 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 ...

from 1972 until 1980 with a time of 44.70 s. At the

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

he placed seventh in the 400 m and fourth in the 4 × 400 m relay. Honz was most successful in the

European Indoor Championships in Athletics The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field competition for European athletes that is organised by the European Athletic Association. It was held for the first time in 1970, replacing the European Indoor Games ...

. In the 4 × 400 m relay, he won silver in

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and gold in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, he won gold in the 400 m with a time of 45.04 seconds, ahead of David Jenkins (GB) and Bernd Herrmann, and silver in the 4 × 400 m (with Köhler, Schlöske and Ziegler) with a time of 3:03.52 minutes, behind Great Britain and ahead of France. In 1972 he became German champion in the 400 m, with a European record time of 44.70 seconds, in front of

Bernd Herrmann Bernd Herrmann (born 22 November 1951) was a West German athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. He competed for West Germany at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada where he won the bronze medal in the men's 4 × 400 ...

and Hermann Köhler. He repeated this in 1973, running in 45.60 seconds and finishing in front of Horst-Rüdiger Schlöske and Köhler. In 1974 he placed second behind Herrmann, and in 1975 in third place behind Schlöske and Köhler. In the years 1973 and 1974 he won the German championship in the 4 × 400 m relay with the German team

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

. With a personal best of 44.70 seconds, he was ranked World No. 2 in 1972 and European No. 6 young athlete of all time in the 400 m. He ranks fourth on the German all-time records for the 400 m.„Ewige“ Bestenliste der deutschen Leichtathletik
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Honz, Karl 1951 births Living people West German male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for West Germany European Athletics Championships medalists People from Konstanz (district) Athletes from Freiburg (region) West German Athletics Championships winners