Jürgen May

Jürgen May ( born June 18, 1942 in Nordhausen ) is a retired German middle distance, long distance and hurdler.

Successes in the GDR

Three times he was East German champion in the 1500 meters (1962, 1965, 1966) and in cross-country running ( 1962-1964 ). In the hall he took in 1965 and 1966 the East German titles over 1500 meters. In 1964 he qualified as a DDR participants for the all-German team for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, but retired in the semifinals of the 1500 -meter run out. In the post-Olympic year 1965, he struck at Rosicky Memorial in Prague, the Olympic medalist over 1,500 meters Peter Snell, Josef Odlozil and Johm Davis.

Jürgen May achieved the following records:

Furthermore ran Jürgen May in the GDR already records in the youth and junior class who were also pan- German records. In 1965 he was elected East German Sportsman of the Year.

At the European Championships in Budapest in 1966, he was fifth over 1500 meters and reached the semifinals in the 800 meters.

Lifetime lock in the GDR

At the European Championships in 1966 bribed Puma May and his East German teammate Jürgen Haase. As punishment, Jürgen May was locked for life in the GDR. He lost his job as a volunteer at the Erfurt newspaper The people and henceforth worked as a sports teacher.

New beginning in the Federal Republic

In 1967, he took advantage of an offer, to let them out of the GDR into the Federal Republic. His records were then subsequently annulled by the DDR and DDR Association statistics of second-placed footballer Peter Ducke was run as DDR - Athlete of the Year in 1965 after his escape.

In the Federal Republic, he continued his sports career. In the Federal Republic of 1969, he was champion in cross country in 1970 over 1500 meters and 1971 over 3000 meter steeplechase. In the hall, he won the 1969 title over 1500 meters and 1970 to 1972 three times the title over 3000 meters. The German Athletics Association reported him for the European Championships in 1969, but he was blocked by a veto of the GDR Association for Exchange of the Association until 1970. The team then boycotted the European Championships and took only symbolic part in the relay events.

The European Cup Final 1970 in Stockholm said May because of a dental surgery in the short term from. At the European Championships 1971 in Helsinki, he gave up over 3000 meters obstacle in the flow. In 1972 he won at the Indoor Athletics Championships in Grenoble about 1500 meters bronze and retired at the Olympic Games in Munich over 5000 meters into the first round. Then he stepped away from competitive sports.

Jürgen May is 1,74 m tall and weighed 68 kg in his playing days. He later became Head of Office for Education, Culture and Sports in the Main- Kinzig-Kreis.

Personal Best

  • 800 m: 1:46,3 min, August 25, 1965, Potsdam
  • 1000 m: 2:16,2 min, July 20, 1965, Erfurt
  • 1500 m: 3:36,4 min, July 14, 1965, Erfurt Hall: 3:41,4 min, February 23, 1969, Dortmund
  • Hall: 3:58,2 min, February 20, 1966, East Berlin
Long-distance running Cross country running Middle-distance running#1000 m 1966 European Athletics Championships 3000 metres Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband 1969 European Athletics Championships 1971 European Athletics Championships 1972 European Athletics Indoor Championships 5000 metres Main-Kinzig-Kreis Whanganui Fulda Gera Berliner Zeitung Gustav-Adolf Schur Helmut Recknagel Klaus Urbanczyk Frank Wiegand Roland Matthes Hans-Georg Aschenbach Waldemar Cierpinski Rolf Beilschmidt Udo Beyer Bernd Drogan Lothar Thoms Uwe Raab Uwe Hohn Olaf Ludwig Torsten Voss Andreas Wecker
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