Gerhard SPERLING

Germany

Deaflympic / World Championships Medals:

First Deaflympic Games: Helsinki 1961

Born: 1937

Gender: m

Competed under two different flags, those of the Unified Team of Germany (1964) and the German Democratic Republic (1968 and 1972) at the Olympic Games. Also took part under two different teams at the Deaf World Games, in which he won a total of 5 medals, including 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. The third place finisher in the 20km walk at the 1965 World Cup among the non-deaf at Pescara, Italy. Won a silver medal in the 20km walk (1:27.28), losing by just .07 seconds to the winner (Nikolai Smaga, of the USSR with a time of 1:27.21) at the 1971 European Championship among the non-deaf held at Helsinki, Finland. As of 1 January 2009, he is still the world record holder in 20000km race walk and 20km race walk.