Gerd Wessig

Gerd Wessig (born 16 July 1959 in Lübz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) was an East German high jumper who won a gold medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Wessig, a professional chef, trained with the SC Traktor Schwerin under trainer Bernd Jahn. He attended the John Brinckmann School in Goldberg. Shortly before the 1980 Olympics, he surprisingly became East German champion with a personal best result of 2.30 metres and was subsequently nominated for the East German Olympic team. At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, he was thus amongst the mild favourites, yet that he not only won the gold medal but also set a new world record with his jump of 2.36 metres was considered a sensation. He thereby became the first high jumper who had managed to improve on the high jump world record at the Olympic Games. The previous world record holder, Jacek Wszoła from Poland, won the silver medal.

After the Olympic Games, Wessig tried his luck as a decathlete (best performance: 8015 points, 23rd of May 1983 in Neubrandenburg; the equivalent of 7974 points according to the scale introduced in 1985). He turned back to the high jump following frequent injuries. In 1985, he came in second at the World Cup. In 1986, he reached seventh place at the European Championships. He became East German champion again 1988 and 1989.

Gerd Wessig was 2.01 metres tall and, while he was competing, weighed 88 kilograms. He had trained as a chef and studied gastronomy. Since the end of his active athletics career, he has been running an enterprise in Lübstorf-Rugensee, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern which sells sport equipment, sport and leisure systems, as well as park and garden systems. He married the long jumper Christine Schima (best performance: 6.96 metres, 1984; seventh place at the 1982 European Championships).