Berlin Mayor Receives World Athletics Heritage Plaque for Berlin Marathon
Governing Mayor Kai Wegner and the Berlin Marathon were awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque for their influential role in international athletics. Learn about Berlin’s rich history in track and field events and the iconic Berlin Marathon’s evolution over the past 50 years.
Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, Honored with World Athletics Heritage Plaque for Berlin Marathon
Berlin, Germany – The city of Berlin and its renowned Berlin Marathon have been awarded the prestigious World Athletics Heritage Plaque, recognizing their outstanding contribution to the history and development of international athletics. The plaque was presented to Governing Mayor Kai Wegner and Berlin Marathon founder Horst Milde in a ceremony held at Berlin’s City Hall on Wednesday.
The event was attended by a distinguished lineup of running legends, including Uta Pippig, the three-time Berlin Marathon champion and 1993 New York City Marathon winner, as well as Gunter Hallas and Jutta von Haase, the inaugural Berlin Marathon winners from 1974.
In a video message, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe praised Berlin’s rich athletics history, which includes over 130 years of organized track and field events and the founding of the Berlin Marathon in 1974. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, providing the stage for iconic triumphs such as those of Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt.
The Berlin Marathon, under the guidance of director Horst Milde, has established an international reputation for organizational excellence and has become one of the world’s largest mass road races, with over 40,000 finishers annually. The city’s flat, fast course has also witnessed the breaking of numerous world records, including the first sub-2:05 marathon by Paul Tergat and the first women’s sub-2:12 performance in recent weeks.
“It is a great honor for Berlin, a city known for its sports enthusiasm.”
- Governing Mayor Kai Wegner
Horst Milde, the Berlin Marathon’s founder, also expressed his pride and noted that the Heritage Plaque is a significant acknowledgment of the hard work and dedication of the event’s organizers, volunteers, and supporters over the past 50 years.
The World Athletics Heritage Plaque is a location-based recognition awarded for outstanding contributions to the worldwide history and development of track and field athletics and out-of-stadium disciplines. The plaque will be permanently displayed at the Rotes Rathaus, Berlin’s iconic city hall.
🔗 Source
