Zittau: The record holder in Zittau celebrates his 90th birthday

The exceptional athlete from Upper Lusatia probably won’t forget the 2016 XXII World Masters of Athletics Championships, as 85-year-old Zetawer celebrated his greatest sporting success by winning two World Championships titles at the Western Australian Athletics Arena in Perth, Australia. The thermometer showed 33 degrees. Seven runners from four countries started the 1500m. “From the start, I followed the heels of the famous French long-distance racer Christian Larcher. He set the pace and I hope to pass him on the ground straight,” says Ebermann, who chose the right tactic in the last 100 metres. The French passed and took the world title by 1.6 seconds. China’s Gui Ben Sun returned to third place after 30 seconds.

Roughly four hours later, the 400m final was within the programme. The temperature has now risen to 36 degrees in the shade. Heinz Ebermann took the lead after 200 meters and ran to his second world title, relegating Greece’s Chatziemanoli and China’s Gui Bin Sun to second and third. “Two world titles in one day. I would have never dreamed that I would have the greatest success of my career in Australia, of all places,” the Olbersdorf native shakes his head to this day. In addition to the two gold medals, Heinz Ebermann also won two silver medals. Over the 200 metres, he gave precedence to France’s Michel Claverie, and in the 800 metres with eleven sprinters from seven countries, Japan’s favorite was Hiro Tanaka. With two gold and two silver medals each, Ebermann was one of the nearly 150 most successful participants in the German World Cup.

Associated with sports since childhood

Born in Olbersdorf, Germany celebrates his 90th birthday on August 16th. As a teenager he found athletics in track and field. Occupation as a gardener and 23 years as an independent master gardener later no longer allow regular participation in competitions. But he always kept in touch with sports, for twelve years he actively played ice hockey at Jonsdorf and enjoyed cross-country skiing. When time allowed, he returned to normal sporting activities, met the ‘old’ ice hockey slots at Jonsdorf Snowboard, was a cross country marathon enthusiast and, through Mario races, found himself among the athletes at HSG Turbine Zittau in 1998 and onwards to start SC DHfK Leipzig.

Heinz Ebermann has completed eleven Worldloppet Series ski marathons, among others in the USA, Canada, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Germany, as well as four Vasa races over a distance of 90 km from Saline to Mora.

His successes in athletics are also not uncommon. Three World Cup participations in Italy, Germany and the last one in Australia, in addition to the European Championships in Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Potsdam and Zittau in the starting book. His World Cup and European Championship medal count shows three gold medals in the relay as well as four gold, seven silver, and three bronze medals in the individual disciplines. Heinz Ebermann carried Germany’s best performance in the AK M80 at 1,000m (4:09.55) until 2019, ran a new European record in 2012 with the German 4x400m relay (5:48.16min) and still holds it today. Saxon records over 100, 400, 1,000 and 1,500 meters in the AK M85. He didn’t count medals at the state championships, but there were probably at least 100 wins.

Although still in a good mood, the Zittau resident has been forced to lay off his traditional Weinau rides and snowboard since spring. “In the winter I skied in Lückendorf almost every day and completed five or six laps over three kilometres. I got cocky and wanted to prove myself away from a cross-country race in downhill skiing, and I fell and seriously injured my thigh.

Now I often ride by bike or on a stick sports hike in the Zittau, and sometimes to Lausch or Hochwald,” says Ebermann, who is still a good figure in any field.