Rosemarie Ackermann

Rosemarie Ackermann (born April 4 1952 in Lohsa, Sachsen) is a former East German high jumper. She was the first female high jumper ever to clear the height of 2.00 m, on August 26, 1977 in Berlin.

She was born as Rosemarie Witschas. Under that name, she took part for East Germany in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, finishing seventh behind Ulrike Meyfarth.

In 1974, at the European Championships in Rome, she won her first international title, setting a new world record (1.95m) along the way. Later that year, she married handball player Manfred Ackermann, and assumed his surname. The peak of her career came two years later, when she won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada.

She lost her European title to Italian jumper Sara Simeoni in 1978, when they both cleared the world-record height of 2.01 m. However, Ackermann's early celebrations caused the rod to fall, leaving her with second place. Ackermann retired from athletics after the 1980 Olympics, where she placed fourth, just outside the medals.

References

* [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wi/rosemarie-witschas-ackermann-1.html sports-reference]