Volker Beck

Volker Beck's 1980 Olympic gold in the 400 m hurdles carries an asterisk in some minds, won at a boycotted Moscow Games with Edwin Moses absent. I see it differently. A champion can only beat the field in front of him, and Beck, the East German national champion in 1980, 1981 and 1983, was a genuine force at 191 cm. His career was shaped by Cold War politics he never controlled, yet he delivered on the track when it counted. I am drawn to athletes who answer with performance rather than excuses, and that medal sits perfectly well with me.

Name (English)

Volker Beck

Name (Japanese)

フォルカー・ベック

Reading

ふぉるかー・べっく

Born

June 30, 1956 (age 70)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Cancer / Monkey

Origin

Nordhausen, Thuringia, Germany

Height

191 cm

Occupation

athletics competitor

Awards & achievements

• Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A9%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%99%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%20(%E9%99%B8%E4%B8%8A%E9%81%B8%E6%89%8B)

Tags

• Thuringia
• athletics competitor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.