Heide Ecker-Rosendahl turns 75: "I always had my own mind"

SPIEGEL:

Ms. Ecker-Rosendahl, in the male-dominated sports world a good 50 years ago, you were considered an atypical athlete and a representative of an emancipated image of women - with wire-rimmed glasses, short hair, pantsuits, but above all with a self-confident appearance.

Were you ahead of your time?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

At least I didn't think so.

My parents taught me that everyone has to make their own decisions with self-confidence.

That's how I kept it, and that's how my husband and I later raised our children.

And if someone said something wrong to me back then, I corrected them, whether in conversation or live on television.

SPIEGEL:

Are you a child of the rebellious 1968 era?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

It mainly took place in Berlin, but of course I saw a lot of it.

As early as 1970 I worked as a lecturer at the German Sport University in Cologne.

It happened that in practical physical education classes we discussed for an hour whether we had to feel physical exercise ourselves or just mentally understand it.

SPIEGEL:

In 1969 you became involved with Willy Brandt and from then on were considered left-wing.

Years later, you campaigned for a CSU man.

How did that happen?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

I've never been committed to just one party.

They often came up to me, which I found uncomfortable.

So I thought: Do it with all Democrats and not just with one party.

In an interview I once said: My private life and what I choose is nobody's business.

I didn't want to be taken in.

After my Olympic long jump victory in Munich in 1972, Willy Brandt and his CDU opponent Rainer Barzel wanted to have flowers in their party colors presented to me live on television.

Fortunately, ZDF rejected this.

Enlarge image

Fly!

With 6.78 meters, Heide Rosendahl won long jump gold in Munich

Photo:

AP

SPIEGEL:

Your long-time coach Gerd Osenberg called you "not always easy."

Was he right?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

Absolutely.

I've always had my own mind and wanted to have a say.

Even when it came to the design of the training.

It also happened that he planned something and I refused.

Then I discussed it with him and in the end we trained, which we agreed on.

SPIEGEL:

That brought you public rejection and recognition at the same time.

The "Kicker" called you "a girl who fits into the new era".

According to surveys, almost 100 percent of Germans knew them.

How did you deal with that?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

Relaxed.

I have never allowed myself to be under pressure from outside.

As an athlete, I always made it myself.

SPIEGEL:

Like at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich - you were considered Germany's greatest hope for gold.

Ecker-Rosendahl:

Four years earlier in Mexico City I had only come eighth in the long jump because of an illness.

I was the favorite in the pentathlon, but then I tore a muscle in my leg warming up and that was the end of the '68 games.

In Munich in 1972, I knew that I could do it given my capabilities.

I really wanted gold and I prepared and motivated myself accordingly.

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Deininger, Roman, Ritzer, Uwe

The games of the century: the 1972 Olympics, terror and the new Germany

Publisher: dtv Verlagsgesellschaft

Number of pages: 528

Publisher: dtv Verlagsgesellschaft

Number of pages: 528

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SPIEGEL:

For example, by withdrawing from the hustle and bustle in the Olympic Village.

Ecker-Rosendahl:

That's true.

I went to the opening ceremony and only arrived two days before my first competition.

I knew that there would be a lot of hype if I showed up somewhere, that I couldn't stroll through Munich unnoticed.

I wanted to concentrate fully on my competitions and that's why I didn't notice much of what was going on around me, the playing street and the cultural offerings in the Olympic Village in Munich.

SPIEGEL:

At the Games 50 years ago you won gold in the long jump and in the 4x100 meter relay, as well as silver in the pentathlon.

By today's standards, if you were a superstar, you would make a lot of money.

What did your success bring you back then?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

An iron, an egg cooker, a few other electrical appliances, oh yes, and a butcher's voucher.

Those were the rewards for my Munich medals.

We were all amateurs, the then IOC chief Avery Brundage rigorously watched over that.

I had graduated as a sports teacher and from 1970 worked as a lecturer at the German Sports University in Cologne.

I lived off the salary, but had to experience discussions as to whether it was even permissible to be a sports teacher and a competitive athlete at the same time.

MIRROR:

Would you rather be a top athlete today?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

I often think about it, but I always come to the conclusion: no.

The pressure on athletes is much greater today.

For them it's always about existence.

You can feel it when they have to talk up even mediocre performances in interviews in order to get recognition so that no sponsor walks away from the flag.

Very few in athletics make big money.

At that time I had all the freedom in my job and in sports and I was also able to say: I don't do that.

SPIEGEL:

Is it true that you would have preferred to see the '72 Olympics somewhere else than in Munich?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

Yes, but that had nothing to do with the city.

You have to put yourself back in time: Back then, people didn't travel around the world as easily as they do today.

As a young girl I had been to the Netherlands and England.

I wanted to see the world, especially after attending the Tokyo Youth Olympic Camp in 1964 and the Mexico City Games four years later.

That was exciting, which is why I would have preferred a metropolis outside of Germany as the 1972 Olympic city.

SPIEGEL:

The assassination of the Israeli team in Munich marked the lowest point in Olympic history.

How did you experience that?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

Angry and helpless.

It was as if someone had broken into the heart of our family.

We found out early in the morning about the hostage-taking in the Israeli quarters, later we saw policemen climbing around on the roofs.

Above all, we athletes from Leverkusen had close relationships with Israeli athletes, we knew each other well and even trained together.

It was only in the spring of 1972 that I went to a training camp at the Israeli Wingate Institute in Netanya.

When Israeli athletes were evacuated for their safety and taken to an underground car park in the Olympic Village, some of us went and took care of them.

Then I was called to the office of the German Athletics Association and found out that I had received a death threat over the phone.

SPIEGEL:

What happened then?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

I had to leave the Olympic village immediately and was put up in a Munich hotel.

Nobody was informed.

Only a very small circle of people knew where I was.

My future husband John came from Leverkusen.

It was never clear who made the threat.

Probably a free rider.

SPIEGEL:

Three days after the attack, there was a German-German duel in the 4x100-meter relay teams.

With you and Renate Stecher, who had won gold in the 100 and 200 meters, the two best lined up as final runners on the home stretch.

You and your team beat East Germany sensationally.

How politically charged was this race?

Enlarge image

Relay final sprint: Heide Rosendahl beat GDR anchor Renate Stecher in the 4x100 meters

Photo: imago sport photo service

Ecker-Rosendahl:

On the track it was purely a sporting competition.

I ran against the best sprinter in the world, just wanted to beat her and after the heat I felt that something could be done.

In the race, I started the last 100 meters with a slight lead over Renate and always tried to hear if she was coming.

But the stadium was raging so loudly that I couldn't hear anything.

I knew that she always turns it up towards the end and then I have to counteract it.

When I didn't hear Renate's footsteps or her breathing at 80 meters, I thought to myself: Now she won't come anymore.

SPIEGEL:

Renate Stecher never started as the last runner in the relay and didn't want to do that in Munich either.

But the GDR officials really wanted the finish photo with the winner Stecher in front of the class enemy Rosendahl.

Ecker-Rosendahl:

Politics was only brought in from outside.

Until the late 1960's there wasn't much German-German rivalry when we met at competitions.

I had good contacts with the GDR all-around fighters Inge Exner and Gerda Mittenzwei, wrote letters and sometimes sent packages.

But then they asked me to stop because the controls were getting stricter and there were more and more minders for GDR athletes.

Maintaining contacts became impossible.

We spoke the same language but had less and less to do with each other.

SPIEGEL:

Looking back at 1972, what do you remember most from the most successful year of your career?

Ecker-Rosendahl:

Honestly?

In addition to the successes in Munich, above all my 25th birthday.

It fell on Shrove Monday for the first time in my life.

Even as a child at a Catholic school, I looked up a pious calendar to see when February 14th fell on a Shrove Monday.

In 1972 the time had finally come.

So we celebrated twice in a pub near the cathedral: birthday and carnival.

That was great.