Germany’s Athlete of the Year in 1975, Ellen Wessinghage from Mainz, is dead. The two-time Olympic participant died on Saturday “at the age of 75 after a long and serious illness,” as the family announced on Monday “in deep sadness.”
“We will remember her vividly as a former top athlete, caring mother of three children and an extremely versatile person.” Under her maiden name Ellen Tittel, the track and field athlete won the bronze medal in the 1,500 meters at the 1971 European Indoor Championships in Helsinki.
The middle and long-distance runner started her career for Leverkusen, Mainz and Koblenz and was German champion 38 times. Ellen Wessinghage was later a member of the executive committee of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Sports Association, where she headed the state working group “Women in Sport” and successfully ran the Boehringer tennis club in Ingelheim for many years.
Lawyer supported Children’s Cancer Support
The lawyer also supported the Tour of Hope, which is dedicated to supporting children’s cancer. In 1975 she married the middle-distance runner Paul-Heinz Wellmann, and her second marriage to the later 5,000-meter European champion Thomas Wessinghage lasted until 1992. With her future partner Holger Neumann, she went on numerous trips to distant countries and spent happy hours with her seven grandchildren.
