Name Rosemarie Ackermann | Weight 72 kg | |
 | ||
Nominations Milliyet Sports Award for World Athlete of the Year Similar People | ||
BERLINO 1977 ROSEMARIE ACKERMANN 2,00 WR
Rosemarie 'Rosi' Ackermann (born 4 April 1952) is a former East German high jumper. She was the first female high jumper ever to clear the height of 2.00 m, on 26 August 1977 in Berlin.
Contents
Biography
She was born as Rosemarie Witschas in Lohsa, Sachsen. Under that name, she took part for East Germany in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, finishing seventh behind Ulrike Meyfarth.
In 1974, at the European Championships in Rome, she won her first international title, setting a new world record (1.95m) along the way. Later that year, she married handball player Manfred Ackermann, and assumed his surname. Two years later, when she won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada.
She lost her European title to Italian jumper Sara Simeoni in 1978, when they both cleared the world-record height of 2.01 m. Simeoni was Ackermann's rival. However, Ackermann's early celebrations caused the rod to fall, leaving her with second place. Ackermann retired from athletics after the 1980 Olympics, where she placed fourth, just outside the medals.
Ackermann is the last female high jumper to set a world record using the straddle technique. She's also the last high jumper of either gender to win the Olympic gold medal in the High jump event with that technique.
