Female athlete of the year 1975
Track and field athlete Ellen Wessinghage has died
Ellen Wessinghage crossing the finish line during the German Athletics Championships in 1975
© Steiner / DPA
Former athlete Ellen Wessinghage has died after a serious illness. The
Germany’s Athlete of the Year in 1975, Ellen Wessinghage, is dead. The two-time Olympic participant died on Saturday “at the age of 75 after a long and serious illness,” as the family told the German Press Agency 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 1500 meters in the indoorBronze medal at the 1971 European 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 remained loyal to the sport
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. 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 5000-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.