Ludwig Müller

Steeplechaser and long-distance runner Ludwig Müller, also called “der Held von Augsburg” (Hero from Augsburg), finished sixth in the steeple at the 1960 Roma Olympics. Two years earlier he won the 5K and 10K at an international meeting against the Soviet Union in Augsburg versus the very strong Soviet runners Yevgeny Zhukov and non-Olympian Aleksander Artenyuk. This was the reason for his nickname. He later declared this event to be the greatest moment of his career.

Up to 1955 Müller was a footballer with TSV Wesel-Feldmark until he was banned for one year after a dispute with a referee. At the 1958 Europeans he participated in the 5K and steeplechase. In total, he won six German Championships adding nine other podiums at different distances. In his later years he became an avid senior tennis player.

Müller was educated as a bricklayer but later turned to massage and physiotherapy. He was then employed as a construction manager in the Civil Engineering Office in Kassel. As a massage therapist, he worked for a long period with the KSV Hessen Kassel football team and at the 1972 Olympics with the German national wrestling team.

Personal Best: 3000S – 8:44.0 (1960).