Horst Astroth, German racewalker, Died at 93

  Sports

Horst Astroth was born on October 30, 1923, in Naumburg and died on January 10, 2017.

He was a German track and field athlete.

Astroth competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics, where he finished 16th out of 39 participants in the men’s 50 kilometres walk.

During the Games, Horst represented SV Halle.

He began his sporting career as a gymnast and was injured in combat during World War II.

Ater the conflict, Astroth worked as a teacher and took up running in 1953 at the age of 30.

Over the period of his career, Astroth set seven senior East German records and was national runner-up in the 50 km in 1956, 1958, and 1959.

Astroth was also eighth in that event at the 1962 European Athletics Championships.

After retiring from international competition, Astroth continued to compete and set records at master’s-level events, while also working as a trainer with Naumburg BSG and a freelancer writer for the local Liberal Democratic newspaper.

Horst Astroth passed away at 93 years old.