The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Germany

This page contains a list of the greatest German Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 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. Marita Koch (b. 1957)

With an HPI of 60.04, Marita Koch is the most famous German Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 38 different languages on wikipedia.

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.

2. Luz Long (1913 - 1943)

With an HPI of 59.98, Luz Long is the 2nd most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 – 14 July 1943) was a German Olympic long jumper who won the silver medal in the event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and had a friendship with Jesse Owens, who won the gold medal in that event. 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.

3. Walter Schröder (1932 - 2022)

With an HPI of 56.61, Walter Schröder is the 3rd most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Walter Schröder (29 December 1932 – 18 October 2022) was a German rower who competed for the United Team of Germany in the 1960 Summer Olympics. In 1960, he was a crew member of the West German boat which won the gold medal in the eights event. In 1959 they had won already the European Championships. After his career as rower he finished his physical education studies, researched and published extensively mainly on rowing and motor learning. He was hired by the University of Hamburg, where he moved up from rowing instructor to Associate Professor for movement studies. Into his section of the department he brought other former athletes, e.g. Arnd Krüger.

4. Jürgen Schult (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 56.14, Jürgen Schult is the 4th most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 33 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.

5. Fritz Hofmann (1871 - 1927)

With an HPI of 55.81, Fritz Hofmann is the 5th 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.

6. Armin Hary (b. 1937)

With an HPI of 55.31, 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 only German to ever win the event in the history of the Olympics, 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. "The most amazing sprinter. I have ever seen". Jesse Owens.

7. Dora Ratjen (1918 - 2008)

With an HPI of 54.91, Dora Ratjen is the 7th 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.

8. Friedrich Traun (1876 - 1908)

With an HPI of 54.21, Friedrich Traun is the 8th most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Friedrich Adolf "Fritz" Traun (29 March 1876 – 11 July 1908) was a German athlete and tennis player. Born into a wealthy family, he participated in the 1896 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in men's doubles. He committed suicide after being accused of fathering a child out of wedlock.

9. Tilly Fleischer (1911 - 2005)

With an HPI of 54.17, Tilly Fleischer is the 9th most famous German Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Ottilie "Tilly" Fleischer (2 October 1911 – 14 July 2005) was a German athlete who competed in a variety of track and field athletic events. She competed for Germany in the 1932 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles in three different events, taking the bronze medal in the javelin. Four years later in her home country at the 1936 Games she won the gold medal in the javelin in front of the Berlin crowds. The reaction of Olympic officials to the congratulations given to her by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was put forward as the reason why Hitler never congratulated American athlete Jesse Owens after his first gold medal victory. Rumours appeared in 1966 as to who was the father of one of her daughters, after her daughter Giselle claimed in a book to be the daughter of Adolf Hitler.

10. Waldemar Cierpinski (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 53.90, Waldemar Cierpinski is the 10th most famous German Athlete. His biography has been translated into 30 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 808 people classified as German athletes born between 1808 and 2007. Of these 808, 688 (85.15%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living German athletes include Marita Koch, Jürgen Schult, and Armin Hary. The most famous deceased German athletes include Luz Long, Walter Schröder, and Fritz Hofmann. As of April 2024, 452 new German athletes have been added to Pantheon including Walter Schröder, Gretel Bergmann, and Klaus Bonsack.