What was once the fastest sprinter in the world has gone into overdrive. “Getting old is not for wimps. I finally have to think about myself now”says Armin Hary.
A good three months after his heart attack, Hary is doing as well as his age allows: Today, on March 22, the double Olympic champion from 1960 will be 85 years old.
“I’m not a person who can rest and rest”
“It’s getting better again. I’m not a person who can rest and rest. I want to do pretty much everything myself.”says Armin Hary in an interview with the German Press Agency.
The man is still an athlete. 1960 was Armin Hary’s year, the greatest in his career as a competitive athlete. On June 21, 1960, the explosive fast starter became the first person ever to sprint the 100 meters in 10.0 seconds: with spikes weighing 480 grams, on a cinder track in Zurich’s Letzigrund.
In the second attempt – in the first attempt he started too early in the opinion of the judges. Hary is allowed to start again, with two fellow runners – and does it again in 10.0 seconds.
Last European Olympic champion over 100 meters
Exactly 72 days later, the “blonde flash” is also an Olympic champion: gold over 100 meters – and a week later, as a brilliant encore, the triumph with the German relay over 4 x 100 meters. After Hary, no European will ever snatch the most prestigious record in athletics again.
Relay start runner Bernd Cullmann still remembers September 8, 1960 very well – and the first change to lane 5. “Armin is off like a rocket! That was unbelievable! I just thought: oh God”says the 82-year-old in a dpa interview. “We trained together in Frankfurt before the Olympics,” says Cullman. “And now we’re on the phone once a week”reports the trained diamond cutter.
Armin Hary’s vita is ready for film
Armin Hary’s vita is also ready for film. The boy from Quierschied, Saarland, first played football, then handball and the violin, and his love of athletics only awakened late. The qualified precision mechanic is a sports student, dishwasher, businessman, real estate agent and building materials wholesaler. Not everything goes in a straight line: He is banned for false expense accounts and a rebellious press article, and because of dubious real estate transactions he is given a two-year suspended sentence in the early 1980s for aiding and abetting infidelity.
Memories of traumatic experiences in his childhood are currently coming up again due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When he sees how the mothers fled with their children in Ukraine, he sees himself fleeing the hail of bombs with his mother, he told the “Welt am Sonntag” with a deep shock.
Hary emphasized that people could be sensitized by remembering the “horrible, terrible Nazi era”. After the Second World War he found himself between great poverty and apparent hopelessness and saw sport as his only chance: “I was a hungry child. Not just literally hungry.”
Even before the golden summer of 1960, Hary sprinted to two European Championship titles in 1958 in Stockholm. After a car accident in November 1960, his knee is broken – in early May 1961 he announces his resignation. His career will be over before it gets any further traction.
Not a big 85th birthday party
A big party for the 85th is not planned – but not canceled either. “Everyone who likes me is very welcome. I can’t uninvite people before they arrive. I’ll get a few visitors. I’ll let myself be surprised.”says the jubilee. “Those who like us will come anyway – and they’ll definitely get coffee and cake.”
As sure as he still gets autograph requests – 62 years after his Olympic victories. “I still get autograph letters every day, sometimes one, sometimes ten”, tells Harry. “Mainly from Germany. But also many from America, England, France. It’s crazy: some write they are 80, others write they are 18. Most send a bunch of photos, which I then sign.” Everything else is then done by his Tina.
Source: dpa