# Manfred Steinbach **Manfred Steinbach** (18 August 1933 – 13 May 2026) was a German sprinter and long jumper who placed fourth in the long jump at the 1960 Rome Olympics and later became a professor of sports medicine and a leading administrator of German athletics[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). Born in Sprottau, today Szprotawa in Poland, he grew up in [Quedlinburg](https://www.edgepedia.org/quedlinburg), first competed for East Germany, and after moving west represented the Federal Republic[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) • [2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach). | Key fact | Detail | |---|---| | Born / died | 18 August 1933 in Szprotawa (then Sprottau, Germany); 13 May 2026 in Grafschaft, Rheinland-Pfalz, aged 92[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) | | Olympic results | Melbourne 1956: eliminated in the 100 m heats (10.8); Rome 1960: fourth in the long jump with 8.00 m[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) • [3](https://www.olympedia.org/results/59806) | | Relay record | Ran the 4 × 100 m in 39.5 s on 29 August 1958 in Köln with Martin Lauer, Heinz Fütterer, and Manfred Germar, equalling the world record[4](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/fed-rep-german/manfred-steinbach-14352809) | | The 8.14 m jump | Won the 1960 West German long jump title with 8.14 m, one centimeter beyond Jesse Owens' 1935 world record of 8.13 m, but wind-aided at 3.2 m/s and not ratified[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) | | National titles | East German champion at 100 m, 200 m, and 4 × 100 m in 1956; West German long jump champion 1960–62[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) • [2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach) | | Personal bests | 100 m: 10.4 (1956); long jump: 8.00 (1960), with a wind-assisted 8.14[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) • [4](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/fed-rep-german/manfred-steinbach-14352809) | | Medical career | Professor of sports medicine; Director of the Institute for Sports Medicine in Mainz 1966–70; DLV sports director 1989–93[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) | ## Early life and East German career Steinbach was born in Sprottau in Lower Silesia and grew up in Quedlinburg in [Saxony-Anhalt](https://www.edgepedia.org/saxony-anhalt), where his talent for sprinting and jumping was recognized while he was still a schoolboy[2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach). He studied medicine from 1952 to 1958 in Halle and [Göttingen](https://www.edgepedia.org/gottingen), and as a student in Halle joined SC Wissenschaft Halle in 1952[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) • [2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach). **1956 brought his first major season.** He became East German champion for the first time over 100 m and 200 m, equalled the East German record of 10.4 s in the 100, and won a third national title with the 4 × 100 m relay[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) • [2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach). With the combined German relay team alongside Lothar Knörzer, Leonhard Pohl, and [Manfred Germar](https://www.edgepedia.org/manfred-germar) he ran 40.0 s to equal the European record[2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach). At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics he was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m in 10.8 s[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) • [2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach). His parents fled to the West in 1953, and Steinbach followed in 1958, escaping to [West Berlin](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-berlin); he later competed for [VfL Wolfsburg](https://www.edgepedia.org/vfl-wolfsburg) and, from 1961, for USC Mainz[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). On 29 August 1958 in Köln he ran the second leg of a West German 4 × 100 m relay with [Martin Lauer](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-lauer), Heinz Fütterer, and Manfred Germar that ran 39.5 s, equalling the world record held by the United States Olympic relay team[4](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/fed-rep-german/manfred-steinbach-14352809). ## The 1960 season and the Rome Olympics The mark could not be ratified: Olympedia records it as wind-aided at 3.2 m/s[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525), and the official Olympic history adds that the wind gauge had not been operated[5](https://library.olympics.com/digitalCollection/DigitalCollectionAttachmentDownloadHandler.ashx?documentId=208905&parentDocumentId=176545&skipCopyright=true&skipWatermark=true). At the Rome Olympics on 2 September 1960, Steinbach qualified with 7.70 m and finished fourth in the final with 8.00 m, an official German record[3](https://www.olympedia.org/results/59806) • [5](https://library.olympics.com/digitalCollection/DigitalCollectionAttachmentDownloadHandler.ashx?documentId=208905&parentDocumentId=176545&skipCopyright=true&skipWatermark=true). [Ralph Boston](https://www.edgepedia.org/ralph-boston) won with an Olympic record of 8.12 m, Bo Roberson took silver at 8.11 m, missing gold by one centimeter, and Igor Ter-Ovanesyan won bronze at 8.04 m, holding off Steinbach's final-round 8.00 m[3](https://www.olympedia.org/results/59806). Steinbach was also entered in the 4 × 100 m relay in Rome but did not start[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). He was West German long jump champion from 1960 to 1962[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525), and Track & Field News ranked him among the world's leading long jumpers in 1960[6](https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/16-mLJRank.pdf). ## Sports medicine and administrative career After graduating in 1958 as a specialist in neurology and psychiatry, Steinbach habilitated in 1966 and became Director of the Institute for Sports Medicine in Mainz from 1966 to 1970[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). He then served as Head of Health and Deputy Director in [Wiesbaden](https://www.edgepedia.org/wiesbaden) from 1970 to 1977 and in the same role in Bonn from 1977 to 1993[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). From 1993 he was Medical Director of the Johannesbad rehabilitation clinics in Bad Fussing, and from 1999 to 2008 he was President of the German Spas Association[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). Within the German Athletics Association (DLV), which he joined in 1973, Steinbach held a sequence of senior posts: teaching coach from 1973 to 1985, sports manager from 1985 to 1989, and sports director from 1989 to 1993[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). He had earlier chaired the "Association of Former Athletes" from 1967 to 1969[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). His DLV honors included the DLV needle in silver (1980) and in gold (1985), the Silver Bay Leaf (12 September 1960), and the Carl-Diem shield (1993)[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). **His DLV career ended in 1993**, when a scandal involving AIDS-contaminated blood arose; he left the association that year and moved to the Johannesbad clinics[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525). The DLV marked his death by noting his outstanding services to the sport as athlete and official over many years[2](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach). ## References 1. [Olympedia – Manfred Steinbach](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70525) 2. [Trauer um Professor Manfred Steinbach, leichtathletik.de](https://www.leichtathletik.de/aktuelles/news/news-detail/81951-trauer-um-professor-manfred-steinbach) 3. [Olympedia – Long Jump, Men (Rome 1960 results)](https://www.olympedia.org/results/59806) 4. [Manfred STEINBACH | Profile, World Athletics](https://worldathletics.org/athletes/fed-rep-german/manfred-steinbach-14352809) 5. [Games of the XVII Olympiad, official report, Olympic Studies Library](https://library.olympics.com/digitalCollection/DigitalCollectionAttachmentDownloadHandler.ashx?documentId=208905&parentDocumentId=176545&skipCopyright=true&skipWatermark=true) 6. [World Rankings – Men's Long Jump, Track & Field News](https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/16-mLJRank.pdf) --- *Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Athletics, gymnastics, and strength sports › Athletes of track and field and road running › Jumpers › Long jumpers* *Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026* *Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.* License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license