Jens-Peter HEROLD

The career of Jens-Peter Herold spanned the years that covered the unification of Germany, which resulted in him representing first East Germany, and then a newly united Germany in international competition. Jens-Peter first made his mark on the international scene in 1987, when he finished second in the 1500m at the European Indoor Championships. In August, at the East German national championships in Potsdam, he won the 1500m in 3min 33.28sec, and two days later the 800m title in 1min 46.44sec. Both times were new personal bests for Herold. The following month, at the World Championships in Rome, Herold won his semi-final of the 1500m, and then in the final on September 6, he finished sixth behind Abdi Bile (Somalia). In 1988, Herold retained his 1500m title at the East German national championships in June, before competing at his first Olympic Games in Seoul later that year.

The 1500m final at Seoul, held on 1 October, was notable for the absence of a number of the top contenders, for a differing number of reasons. After a sluggish early pace, Peter Rono (Kenya) led the sprint for home with two laps remaining. Herold moved up to third place with 200m to go behind Rono and Peter Elliott (Great Britain), and as all three covered the final stages in roughly the same time, they also finished in that order, to earn Herold (see photo above, No.466, inside lane) an Olympic bronze medal. In 1989, Jens-Peter won his third consecutive East German 1500m title, as well as the 800m title. He had reasonable success at the European Cup in August, where he finished fourth in the 1500m, but he had much better fortune at the World Cup in Barcelona the following month where he finished second in the 800m and third in the 1500m on consecutive days. (Ron Casey)

Jens-Peter Herold had established himself as a significant factor on the middle-distance running scene during the late 1980's, winning bronze medals in the 1500m at the 1988 Olympic Games and the 1989 World Cup. Herold broke through to record his first major international victory when he won the 1500m at the 1990 European Indoor Championships at Glasgow in March. This was the start of a very successful year for Herold which included a number of good performances in the lead up to the European Championships held that year in Split. On 14 July, he finished third in the fastest mile race of the year at the Bislett Games in Oslo, and he followed this with a close second behind Noureddine Morceli (Algeria) in the 1500m at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich on 15 August.

Only a few days later, he won his fourth consecutive East German 1500m title at Dresden, less than two weeks before the 1500m final at the European Championships on 1 September. The final at Split began at a dawdling pace, and when the sprint for home began, Jens-Peter was not amongst the leaders, but he stormed down the straight to take the lead in the closing stages and win the gold medal (see photo above) in 3min 38.35sec. At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Herold, now representing the newly unified Germany, made a tactical error in the final metres of the 1500m final, when he eased up before the line to celebrate what seemed to be a safe third place finish, and was pipped out of the medals by teammate Hauke Fuhlbrugge. Herold continued to represent Germany for a number of years after that, but with limited success, suffering elimination in the heats of the 1500m at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, as well as at the 1994 European Championships. (Ron Casey)