# Rudolf Harbig Memorial Award

The Rudolf Harbig Memorial Award (German: Rudolf-Harbig-Gedächtnispreis) is an annual sports award in recognition of German competitors in the sport of athletics who, in performance and attitude, have been role models for young people. The award was created in 1950, named after German middle-distance runner Rudolf Harbig, who died age 30 fighting for the Wehrmacht in World War II. The award was suggested by the Clubs der Alten Meister (Old Masters Club), a union of former athletes and made official by Karl Ritter von Halt, the former leader of the National Socialist League of the Reich for Physical Exercise. Given by the German Athletics Association (DLV), the award was for West German athletes only prior to German reunification.
The prize may only be awarded once to an athlete, who is selected by an internal German Athletics Association panel. The DLV president gives the award at the German Athletics Championships each year, a tradition started at the championships in 1950. The award was historically mostly been given to men (37 male to 13 female winners in its first 50 years) – prior to 2005, a female winner had succeeded another woman on one occasion only. Men and women have received the honour in roughly equal frequency since 1999.

## Winners

| Year | Winner | Sex | Event |
| 1950 | Alfred Dompert | Male | Steeplechase |
| 1951 | Karl Wolf | Male | Hammer |
| 1952 | Hermann Eberlein | Male | Long-distance |
| 1953 | Heinz Ulzheimer | Male | Middle-distance |
| 1954 | Karl Storch | Male | Hammer |
| 1955 | Herbert Schade | Male | Long-distance |
| 1956 | Maria Sander | Female | Hurdles |
| 1957 | Karl-Friedrich Haas | Male | Sprints |
| 1958 | Heinz Fütterer | Male | Sprints |
| 1959 | Marianne Werner | Female | Shot put |
| 1960 | Manfred Germar | Male | Sprints |
| 1961 | Paul Schmidt | Male | Middle-distance |
| 1962 | Karl Hein | Male | Hammer |
| 1963 | Helmut Janz | Male | Hurdles |
| 1964 | Erika Fisch | Female | Long jump |
| 1965 | Manfred Kinder | Male | Sprints |
| 1966 | Helga Hoffmann | Female | Long jump |
| 1967 | Klaus Lehnertz | Male | High jump |
| 1968 | Hinrich John | Male | Hurdles |
| 1969 | Ingrid Becker | Female | Pentathlon |
| 1970 | Harald Norpoth | Male | Long-distance |
| 1971 | Hermann Salomon | Male | Javelin |
| 1972 | Horst Beyer | Male | Decathlon |
| 1973 | Heide Rosendahl | Female | Pentathlon |
| 1974 | Bernd Kannenberg | Male | Racewalking |
| 1975 | Michael Sauer | Male | Triple jump |
| 1976 | Rita Wilden | Female | Sprints |
| 1977 | Annegret Richter | Female | Sprints |
| 1978 | Klaus Wolfermann | Male | Javelin |
| 1979 | Gerhard Weidner | Male | Racewalking |
| 1980 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister | Male | Sprints |
| 1981 | Guido Kratschmer | Male | Decathlon |
| 1982 | Karl-Hans Riehm | Male | Hammer |
| 1983 | Ulrike Meyfarth | Female | High jump |
| 1984 | Willi Wülbeck | Male | Middle-distance |
| 1985 | Thomas Wessinghage | Male | Middle-distance |
| 1986 | Brigitte Kraus | Female | Middle-distance |
| 1987 | Harald Schmid | Male | Hurdles |
| 1988 | Dietmar Mögenburg | Male | High jump |
| 1989 | Rolf Danneberg | Male | Discus |
| 1990 | Claudia Losch | Female | Shot put |
| 1991 | Hans Grodotzki | Male | Long-distance |
| 1992 | Heike Henkel | Female | High jump |
| 1993 | Hartwig Gauder | Male | Racewalking |
| 1994 | Thomas Schönlebe | Male | Sprints |
| 1995 | Christian Schenk | Male | Decathlon |
| 1996 | Dieter Baumann | Male | Long-distance |
| 1997 | Steffen Brand | Male | Steeplechase |
| 1998 | Florian Schwarthoff | Male | Hurdles |
| 1999 | Heike Drechsler | Female | Long jump |
| 2000 | Heinz Weis | Male | Hammer |
| 2001 | Jürgen Schult | Male | Discus |
| 2002 | Sabine Braun | Female | Heptathlon |
| 2003 | Lars Riedel | Male | Discus |
| 2004 | Frank Busemann | Male | Decathlon |
| 2005 | Astrid Kumbernuss | Female | Shot |
| 2006 | Franka Dietzsch | Female | Discus |
| 2007 | Charles Friedek | Male | Triple jump |
| 2008 | Steffi Nerius | Female | Javelin |
| 2009 | Nadine Kleinert | Female | Shot put |
| 2010 | Ingo Schultz | Male | Sprints |
| 2011 | Tim Lobinger | Male | Pole vault |
| 2012 | Ralf Bartels | Male | Shot put |
| 2013 | Björn Otto | Male | Pole vault |
| 2014 | Betty Heidler | Female | Hammer |
| 2015 | Christian Reif | Male | Long jump |
| 2016 | Verena Sailer | Female | Sprints |
| 2017 | Christina Obergföll | Female | Javelin |
| 2018 | Linda Stahl | Female | Javelin |