Lutz Dombrowski (born 25 June 1959) is a former

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 and Olympic champion.

Early life

Dombrowski was born in 1959 in

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

Wilhelm Pieck Friedrich Wilhelm Reinhold Pieck (; 3 January 1876 – 7 September 1960) was a German communist politician who served as the Leadership of East Germany, chairman of the Socialist Unity Party from 1946 to 1950 and as the only president of the Ger ...

, who at the time of Dombrowski's birth was president of East Germany, was his god-father; he was Pieck's second god-child after Hannelore Anke.

Career

Dombrowski was the best-ever

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 ...

er from the former

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 ...

. After winning at the European cup in 1979 he won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympic games in Moscow. In 1982, he was European champion. He represented the Karl-Marx-Stadt sport club. His 8.54 meter winning jump in Moscow was a low-altitude record and still stands as the German national record. At the time, it was the second best jump in history 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 world record of 8.90 set in 1968. Today he is employed as a sports teacher and works as a representative of the sports society in

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district ...

. On 10 April 2003, he was inducted into Germany's track and field "Hall of Fame". During his career he was 1.87 meters tall and weighed 87 kilograms. In 1991, researcher Brigitte Berendonk found doctoral theses recording state run doping in the GDR. Among the list of doped athletes was the name of Dombrowski. Brigitte Berendonk: ''Doping. Von der Forschung zum Betrug''. Reinbek 1992, , S. 181

References

1959 births Living people Sportspeople from Zwickau Athletes from Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany) politicians East German male long jumpers Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver East German Athletics Championships winners {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub Stasi informants SC Karl-Marx-Stadt athletes