Heinz Erbstößer

East German Heinz Erbstößer, nicknamed “Erbse” (Wild Pea), started his sports carreer as a football player before becoming a sprinter. He was a member of the all-German 4×100 relay team at the 1964 Olympics and the East German 4×100 relay team at their first Olympic Games in 1968 in Mexico. His best Olympic performance was fifth place in the 1968 4×100 relay. He also participated in the 1966 European Championships and the 1965 and 1967 European Cup. Domestically he collected 20 East German titles in the sprint distances of 100 and 200 metres and in different relay distances. In Mexico City the East German 4×100 relay team twice bettered the European Record, but lost it in the final to the French squad. The same year he was the first East German sprinter under 10.2 in the 100 m.

Erbstößer was educated as a chemical technician and became a scientific member of the research center at the Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur (German Academy for Physical Culture) at Leipzig.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.28 (1968); 200 – 20.8 (1968).