Hansjörg Kunze
 Hansjörg Kunze (left) winning the 5000m race at the 1981 national GDR championships, before Werner Schildhauer (right) und Olaf Kampe |
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| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Athletics | ||
Representing  East Germany
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| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1988 Seoul | 5,000 m |
| World Championships | ||
|
1983 Helsinki | 10,000 m |
|
1987 Rome | 10,000 m |
Hansjörg Kunze (born 28 December 1959 in ) is a German track and field athlete. He represented East Germany as a long distance runner.
His biggest success was the bronze medal in the 5,000 meter run at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea. He represented Empor Rostock sport club.
He had a spectacular win on 9 September 1981 in Rieti, Italy, when he set a European record in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 13:10.40 and beat Kenyan Henry Rono who had dominated that season. With this win he also set himself apart from his longtime rival in East Germany, Werner Schildhauer.
Kunze's bronze medal at 5,000 metres in the 1988 Seoul Olympics can be found, for example, in the Finnish "Great Olympic Book" / Suuri Olympiateos, volume 5, published in Finland in 1988. His bronze-medal performances at 10,000 metres in the 1983 and 1987 World Championships can be found, for example, in the Finnish-language books about those World Championships, edited and published by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine. Also Wolfgang Wünsche's class book about athletics, "The Heroes of Race Tracks," in its 1984 edition (translated into Finnish), includes references to Kunze's bronze medal in the 1983 World Championships, his decision not to run the 5,000 metres in those championships, his failure at 5,000 metres in the 1982 European Championships (he finished ninth after being pushed around in the crowded group of runners - see, for example, a Finnish book called "Highlights of Top Sports" / Huippu-urheilun tähtihetkiä), and his success at 5,000 metres in the 1981 European Athletics Cup. Kunze finished second to Eamonn Coghlan in the very slow World Athletics Cup 5,000-metre race in 1981 (see, for example, a Finnish sports book called "Events of Top Sports Until 1982" / Huippu-urheilun tapahtumat vuoteen 1982).
Since the end of his sport career he has worked as a journalist for a public relations agent for an athletic shoe manufacturer, as commentator for the 1993 World athletic championship in Stuttgart, as a radio and television reporter for a regional station and lastly as a spokesperson for a shipping company. In 2004 he worked for the Rostock Olympic bid committee (for the sailing competition that would be held in Leipzig).
He has been married since 1981 and has two children.
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