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The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Germany

This page contains a list of the greatest German Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 Athletes, 354 of which were born in Germany. This makes Germany the birth place of the 2nd most number of Athletes.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary German Athletes of all time. This list of famous German Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of German Athletes.

1. Luz Long (1913 - 1943)

With an HPI of 62.24, Luz Long is the most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.

Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 – 14 July 1943) was a German Olympic long jumper, notable for achieving the silver medal in the event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for his association with Jesse Owens, who went on to win the gold medal for the long jump. Luz Long won the German long jump championship six times in 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939. Long was killed while serving in the German Army during World War II.

2. Marita Koch (1957 - )

With an HPI of 58.05, Marita Koch is the 2nd most famous German Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Marita Koch (later Meier-Koch; born 18 February 1957) is a German former sprint track and field athlete. During her career she set 16 world records in outdoor sprints as well as 14 world records in indoor events. Her record of 47.60 in the 400 metres, set on 6 October 1985, still stands.

3. Dora Ratjen (1918 - 2008)

With an HPI of 55.51, Dora Ratjen is the 3rd most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Heinrich Ratjen (20 November 1918 – 22 April 2008), born Dora Ratjen, was a German athlete who competed for Germany in the women's high jump at the 1936 Summer Olympics at Berlin, finishing fourth, but was later determined to be male and/or intersex. In some news reports, he was erroneously referred to as Hermann Ratjen and Horst Ratjen.

4. Fritz Hofmann (1871 - 1927)

With an HPI of 53.42, Fritz Hofmann is the 4th most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Fritz Hofmann (born 19 June 1871 in Berlin, German Empire; died 14 July 1927 in Berlin, Weimar Republic) was a German athlete. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.

5. Rosemarie Ackermann (1952 - )

With an HPI of 52.56, Rosemarie Ackermann is the 5th most famous German Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Rosemarie "Rosi" Ackermann (née Witschas; born 4 April 1952) is a German former high jumper, Olympic champion and multiple world record holder. On 26 August 1977 in Berlin , she became the first female high jumper to clear a height of 2 metres.

6. Armin Hary (1937 - )

With an HPI of 52.45, Armin Hary is the 6th most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Armin Hary (German pronunciation: [ˈaʁmiːn ˈhaːʁi] ; born 22 March 1937) is a retired German sprinter who won the 1960 Olympic 100 meters dash. He was the first non-American to win the event since Percy Williams of Canada took the gold medal in 1928, the first non-North American since Harold Abrahams in 1924, the first man to run 100 meters in 10.0 seconds and the last White man to establish a world record in 100 meters dash.

7. Lina Radke (1903 - 1983)

With an HPI of 52.18, Lina Radke is the 7th most famous German Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Karoline "Lina" Radke-Batschauer (18 October 1903 – 14 February 1983) was a German track and field athlete. She was the first Olympic champion in the 800m for women. Born as Lina Batschauer, she started competing in athletics at the age of 20. In those years sports such as running were considered far too exhausting for women. This vision was shared by many, including the originator of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin. In 1927, she married Georg Radke, who was her coach and a manager of her club SC Baden-Baden. The couple moved to Georg's hometown of Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland), where in 1927 she set her first 800 m world record. Together with her husband, Lina Radke was one of the pioneers of female athletics in the mid-1920s. Competitions for women were not held frequently, but Radke nevertheless won several regional and national titles. She first specialised in the 1000 m, but when this was changed into the 800 m (because that distance would be held at the upcoming 1928 Summer Olympics), she switched to that event. The highlight of Radke's career were those 1928 Summer Olympics, as she won the inaugural title in the 800 m, earning the first German gold medal in athletics. Along the way, she set the first officially recognised world record in that event, 2:16.8, which would last until 1944. Following false media reports of competitors collapsing after the race, however, the IOC banished the women's 800 m from the Games; it would not be included again until 1960. In 1930 Radke set a 1,000 m world record. She retired in 1934, after finishing fourth in the 800 m at the last Women's World Games. After that she worked as athletics coach in Breslau and Torgau. Her husband took part in World War II and was held as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union. Upon his release in 1950, the family moved to Karlsruhe.

8. Jürgen Schult (1960 - )

With an HPI of 51.77, Jürgen Schult is the 8th most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Jürgen Schult (German pronunciation: [ˈjʏʁɡn̩ ˈʃʊlt], ; born 11 May 1960) is a German former track and field athlete and, from 1986 until 2024, the world record holder in the discus throw. Schult represented East Germany in the 1988 Olympic discus competition, where he won the gold medal.

9. Heike Drechsler (1964 - )

With an HPI of 51.64, Heike Drechsler is the 9th most famous German Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Heike Gabriela Drechsler (German pronunciation: [ˈhaɪkə ˈdʁɛkslɐ] ; née Daute; born 16 December 1964) is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany and later Germany. One of the most successful long jumpers of all-time, she is a former world record holder and ranks third on the all-time list with her legal best of 7.48 metres in 1988. Her marginally wind-assisted jump of 7.63 metres (+2.1) in 1992 at altitude in Sestriere, is still the furthest a woman has ever long jumped. She is the only woman who has won two Olympic gold medals in the long jump, winning in 1992 and 2000. Drechsler also won Olympic medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres in 1988, a silver medal in the 100 metres at the 1987 World Championships, and is a former world record holder in the 200 metres with 21.71 secs in 1986.

10. Waldemar Cierpinski (1950 - )

With an HPI of 51.56, Waldemar Cierpinski is the 10th most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Waldemar Cierpinski (born 3 August 1950) is a former East German athlete and two-time Olympic champion in the marathon.

People

Pantheon has 354 people classified as athletes born between 1871 and 1998. Of these 354, 291 (82.20%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Marita Koch, Rosemarie Ackermann, and Armin Hary. The most famous deceased athletes include Luz Long, Dora Ratjen, and Fritz Hofmann. As of April 2022, 120 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Carl Diem, Christa Stubnick, and Erich Borchmeyer.