Peter Frenkel (born 13 May 1939 in

Eckartsberga Eckartsberga () is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated west of Naumburg. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") An der Finne. Since 2009 it has included the former municipa ...

) 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 ...

athlete who was one of the best 20 km race walkers in the world in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Biography

He won the gold medal for East Germany in the

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Olympics of 1972 in the 20 kilometre walk, in a time of 1:26:43. He defended his title at the 1976 Olympics held in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada, finishing in third place. He first competed in the Olympics 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 ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, where he finished in tenth place, with a time of 1:37:21. He came fourth at the 1971

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in a time of 1:27:52.8. He had retired early from the sport by the time of the 1974 European Championships. He used a

decompression chamber A diving chamber is a vessel for human occupation, which may have an entrance that can be sealed to hold an internal pressure significantly higher than ambient pressure, a pressurised gas system to control the internal pressure, and a supply of ...

belonging to the state airline

Interflug Interflug GmbH (; ) was the national airline of East Germany (officially the “German Democratic Republic”) from 1963 to 1991. Based in East Berlin, it operated scheduled and chartered flights to European and intercontinental destinations out ...

in training for the 1972 Olympics, so as to simulate the effects of altitude training. He set two

World Records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

during his racing career, the first in 1970 (1:25:50), the second in 1972 (1:25:19.4) equalling Hans-Georg Reimann's record. He served in the East German Army while training, rising to the rank of Major. After finishing his racing career, he became a well-known photographer in East Germany. He was vice-president of the Union of German Olympians (''Gemeinschaft Deutscher Olympiateilnehmer'', or GDO) from 1991 to 1998. He then became a press officer fo
OSC Potsdam
athletic club. He raced for the ASK Vorwärts Potsdam club (the army sports club). He was coached by Wilhelm Kustak until 1968, and then by Hans-Joachim Pathus. In his racing years he was tall, and weighed .

References

External links

* 1939 births Living people People from Eckartsberga Sportspeople from the Province of Saxony East German male race walkers Athletes from Saxony-Anhalt Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze 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