Erika Fisch

Erika Fisch
Medal record
Women’s athletics
Competitor for  West Germany
European Championships
Silver 1962 Belgrade 4×100 m relay
Bronze 1962 Belgrade 80 m hurdles

Erika Fisch (born 29 April 1934) is a German former athlete. She represented the Unified Team of Germany at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, placing fourth in the long jump. At the 1962 European Championships she won silver in the 4 × 100 m relay with the West German team and tied for bronze in the 80 m hurdles.[1][2]

Career

In March 1954 Fisch broke the unofficial indoor world record in women's long jump, jumping 5.95 m.[3][nb 1] At that summer's European Championships in Bern Fisch placed fourth with a jump of 5.81 m,[1] only 2 cm behind bronze medallist Elżbieta Duńska of Poland.[5]

Fisch was part of a German team that broke the 4 × 100 m world record (with a time of 45.1) in 1956.[2][6] At the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne she injured herself in the long jump, but still placed fourth with a wind-aided 5.89 m;[2][6] she was supposed to also compete in the 4 × 100 m relay, but had to sit out due to the injury.[2] At the 1958 European Championships in Stockholm Fisch was third in the long jump qualification with a jump of 5.95 m, but only reached 5.72 m in the final and placed twelfth.[1]

Fisch missed the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome after breaking her leg in a skiing accident.[7] She won two medals at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrad, silver in the 4 × 100 m relay (44.6) and bronze in the 80 m hurdles.[1][5] The hurdles final was extremely close, with Fisch, Teresa Ciepły, Karin Balzer and Maria Piątkowska all running 10.6;[5] eventually, judges announced that Ciepły had won and Balzer placed second, while Fisch and Piątkowska shared third place.[8] In 1964 Fisch again missed out on the Olympics due to an injury.[7]

In addition to her relay world record and long jump indoor world best, Fisch twice broke the indoor world best in the 50 m hurdles (7.1 and 7.0) and equalled the indoor world best in the 60 m hurdles (8.4) five times.[3] In his annual rankings starting in 1956, Czechoslovakian sports statistician Jan Popper ranked Fisch in the world's top ten five times in the 80 m hurdles (with a peak ranking of #4 in 1962) and twice in the long jump (with a peak ranking of #3 in 1956).[9][10] Her personal best in the long jump was 6.21 m from 1958.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ The outdoor record at the time was 6.28 m by New Zealand's Yvette Williams.[4]>

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Tilastopaja profile for Erika Fisch
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Erika Fisch Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Butler, Mark (2010). "Doha 2010 Statistics Handbook" (PDF). IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Butler, Mark. "IAAF Statistics Handbook Berlin 2009" (PDF). IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "European Championships (Women)". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Erika Claus-Fisch feiert ihren 75. Geburtstag" (in German). 29 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Erika Claus-Fisch" (in German). Niedersächsische Institut für Sportgeschichte e.V. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Babiarz, Przemysław. "Teresa Ciepły – zapomniana mistrzyni" (in Polish). MagazynBieganie.pl. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "World Rankings — Long Jump" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "World Rankings — Women's 100H" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved 29 April 2014.

External links