Juergen May

Jürgen May (born 18 June 1942 in Nordhausen, Thuringia) is a former middle-distance runner, who was a successful athlete and Olympic Games competitor, who escaped from the GDR to continue his career in the FRG.

During the 1966 European Athletics Championships in Budapest, Jürgen May, on behalf of a footwear company, bribed teammate Jürgen Haase to wear the company's trainers in the 10,000 metres final. A rival firm in West Germany found out about the incident and made the details public. As punishment, Jürgen was given a lifelong ban from participating on behalf of the GDR. He also lost his job as an unpaid employee at the Erfurt newspaper Das Volk, and therefore had to work from then on as a sports teacher.

In 1967 Jürgen took advantage of an offer to move to West Germany, where he was able to continue his career as a sportsman. He was selected by the German Athletics Federation for the 1969 European Championships. However, the team boycotted the European Championships and participated only symbolically in the relay competitions.

Jürgen May did not succeed in obtaining a foothold in international competitions again. In 1970 in he pulled out of the European Cup final at short notice due to a tooth operation. He pulled out of the 1971 European Championships in Helsinki in advance. His last international competition was the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich where he failed to qualify for the final in the 5000 metres. Afterwards this he retired from competitive sport. He later worked as a civil servant in Main-Kinzig-Kreis.

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