Klaus Richtzenhain

Klaus Richtzenhain ( born 1 November 1934 in Berlin ) is a former German athlete who. During the XVI Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 took second place in the 1500 meter race, behind the Irish Ron Delany ( gold ) and before the Australian John Landy (bronze). He took for the GDR in a joint crew of both German states in the games.

Klaus Richtzenhain had begun in 1951 as an apprentice in Dessau with the running training and one year later was national champion of Saxony- Anhalt. 1955, starting in Leipzig, he advanced into the world's best. In 1956, he was regarded as the second best German runner by Siegfried Herrmann, but resigned in 1500 -meter lead with a tear of the Achilles tendon. After his surprising second place he was appointed flag bearer of the German team for the final event. Klaus Richtzenhain also launched in Melbourne in the 800 -meter competition, but resigned in the run- off.

A second Olympic start in Rome in 1960 failed due to injuries. After the end of his athletic career In 1961 he was engineer. He lives as a pensioner in Erfurt.

Richtzenhain competed for the SC locomotive Leipzig ( Coach: Max Syring ), from the end of 1960 for the SC Turbine Erfurt ( Coach: Ewald Mertens ). In his playing days, he was 1.78 m tall and weighed 62 kg.