Manfred Germar

Manfred Germar won a bronze medal at the 1956 Olympic Games at Melbourne with the 4x100 relay together with Lothar Knörzer, Leo Pohl and Heinz Fütterer, and reached the 100 metres final, placing fifth. In 1960 he was eliminated in the heats of the 100 and 200 metres. His greatest performance came at the 1958 European Championships, where he won the 200 metres, won silver in the 100, and ran anchor for the combined German 4×100 relay team that won the gold medal. Domestically Germar won 20 national titles. In the 200 he was World Ranked #1 in 1958 and #2 in 1957 and 1961. Germar was German Sportsman of the Year in 1957, was recipient of the Olympic Order in Silver in 2001, was awarded the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (Silver Bay Leaf) in 1957, the Rudolf-Harbig-Gedächtnispreis (Memory Award) in 1960, the Silver Needle of the German Track and Field Association in 1970, the Dr-Hans-Heinrich-Sievert-Preis in 1999, among numerous further awards, and was inducted into the German Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

In 1968, Germar began working as a sports administrator for his home club ASV Köln, serving as Chairman from 1978-97 (later Honorary President), and beginning in 1968 was the chief organizer of the Weltklasse meet in Köln (Cologne). Germar published his autobiography Die Spuren meiner Spikes in 1961. In 1998 he became a board member of the German Sports and Olympic Museum at Köln. He was educated as a certified merchandiser and later worked for the West German Lotto Organization. In later years he became an avid golfer.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.2 (1957); 200 – 20.6 (1958).