Former decathlete and hurdle sprint world record holder Martin Lauer died at the age of 82 years. This was announced by the German Athletics Federation (DLV) on Sunday, citing Lauer's family. "Martin Lauer is an athletics legend gone from us.The German Athletics Association loses with Martin Lauer a great and successful sportsman who has followed until recently the events in athletics." Our sincere condolences to his family, "said DLV President Jürgen Kessing.
Lauer won the gold medal with the 4x100 meter relay at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. A year earlier, the native of Cologne had set two world records at the Sports Festival in Zurich within an hour over 110 meters hurdles in 13.2 seconds and over 200 meters hurdles in 22.5 seconds. In the same year Lauer was elected world athlete.