Klaus Beer (14 November 1942 – 8 June 2023) was a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete active in the 1960s for

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Beer is best known for having won the silver medal in the long jump at the 1968 Summer Olympics, well behind Bob Beamon's record setting performance – Beamon jumped 8.90 m, while Beer jumped 8.19 m.

Biography

Beer was born in

Liegnitz Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. L ...

, Gau Lower Silesia,

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

(today Legnica,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). Beer won the silver medal in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

, well behind

Bob Beamon Robert Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is an American former track and field athlete, best known for his world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. By jumping , he broke the existing record by a margin of and his world r ...

's record setting performance – Beamon jumped 8.90 m, while Beer jumped 8.19 m. Beer was a seven time (1961, 1962, 1964, 1967–1970) East German champion competing outdoors and a national champion four times (1965, 1968–1970) indoors. He came in second at the

European Indoor Athletics Championships 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 ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. He also came in second at the 1970

European Cup Finals The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of Europe ...

, Europe's team championship, which East Germany won that year. Beer coached Kofi Amoah Prah and Steffen Landgraf hope. Beer died on 8 June 2023, at the age of 80.Flash-News des Tages

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer, Klaus 1942 births 2023 deaths Sportspeople from Legnica Athletes from Lower Silesian Voivodeship People from the Province of Lower Silesia East German male long jumpers Olympic athletes for the United Team of Germany Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze East German Athletics Championships winners