A great friend of ours from Germany gave us the sad news that Gerhard Weidner passed away on September 25th.
Gerhard Weidner was a three-time Olympian (1968-76) finishing 14th, 6th, and 18th. He participated in the 1976 Worlds, and the European Championships in 1966, 1971, 1974, and 1978.
His best finish on the international stage was a silver medal at the 1975 IAAF World Race Walking Cup.
He was also nominated for the 1969 Europeans, but could not start due to the scandal and West German boycott concerning former East German middle-distance runner Jürgen May.
In his career he won 29 German championships over different distances and represented Germany in 62 international competitions.
In 1973 he set the world record for 50,000m track walk in Hamburg, his hometown with a time of 4:00:27
In 1979 he was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf and the Rudolf Harbig Memorial Award.
(cover photo taken in 2011 by Manfred Spittler - GER)