Jürgen May
Jürgen May (born 18 June 1942 in Nordhausen, Thuringia) is a former middle-distance runner, who was a successful athlete and Olympic Games competitor, who escaped from the GDR to continue his career in the FRG.
Successes in the GDR
- 1964: Qualified as a GDR representative for the all-German team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo; however, the teams split in Semi-final of the 1500 m.
- 1965: Jürgen May obtained four records in only a few weeks:
- European record in the 1500 m: 3:36.4 min. on 14 July in Erfurt
- World record in the 1000 m: 2:16.2 min. on 20 July in Erfurt
- GDR record in the 800 m: 1:46.3 min. on 25 August in Potsdam
- GDR record in the one mile run: 3:56.0 min. on 30 August in London
- 1965: Jürgen May was nominated as GDR sportsman of the year. (GDR statistics show that he came runner-up to Peter Ducke)
Lifelong ban in the GDR
During the 1966 European Athletics Championships in Budapest, Jürgen May, on behalf of a footwear company, bribed teammate Jürgen Haase to wear the company's trainers in the 10,000 metres final. A rival firm in West Germany found out about the incident and made the details public. As punishment, Jürgen was given a lifelong ban from participating on behalf of the GDR. He also lost his job as an unpaid employee at the Erfurt newspaper Das Volk, and therefore had to work from then on as a sports teacher.
New start in the FRG
In 1967 Jürgen took advantage of an offer to move to West Germany, where he was able to continue his career as a sportsman. He was selected by the German Athletics Federation for the 1969 European Championships. However, the team boycotted the European Championships and participated only symbolically in the relay competitions.
Jürgen May did not succeed in obtaining a foothold in international competitions again. In 1970 in Stockholm he pulled out of the European Cup final at short notice due to a tooth operation. He pulled out of the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki in advance. He also pulled out of the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich in advance; after this he retired from competitive sport. He later worked as a civil servant in Main-Kinzig-Kreis.
Jürgen May is 1.74 m tall and had a match weight of 68 kg.
References
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Michel Jazy |
European Record Holder Men's 1500 m 14 July 1965 - 24 June 1966 |
Succeeded by Michel Jazy |
| Awards | ||
Preceded by Klaus Urbanczyk |
East German Sportsman of the Year 1965 |
Succeeded by Frank Wiegand |