Berlin Midsommar (GER)

History

THE ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT OF SCC BERLIN

Source: scc-berlin-leichtathletik.de

Over 110 years of SCC Berlin - a success story of the athletics department

The club's greatest successes have always been achieved by its track and field athletes, who have won many medals at the Olympic Games, European Championships and German Championships. In recent decades, however, it has also been the major events that have brought the SCC world fame. The most popular flagship events are the BERLIN MARATHON and the BERLIN HALF MARATHON. They are the largest and most spectacular races in Germany, attracting attention around the world and setting new participant records every year. Top-class sport and popular sport in one - that is the recipe for great success in the wide range of races throughout the year - from the New Year's Run to the New Year's Eve Run.

When the Charlottenburg Sports Club 1902 was founded on September 15, 1902 in "Eckmann's Salon and Dance Institute", the success story of this club was of course far from foreseeable.

Five years later, the club, whose initiator Paul Martin was elected as its first chairman, held its first local athletics sports festival. The core Olympic sport became synonymous with SCC Berlin. There is hardly another German club that can boast such success in athletics as the Charlottenburg club.

The athletics department was and is the center of the club. The SCC Berlin sets standards in both elite and recreational sports - and above all, the Charlottenburg club has been a trendsetter for decades as an organizer. There is no other club in Germany that moves as many people with its running events as the SCC Berlin.

In the first half of the century, it was of course the top sporting achievements and events with which the SCC made headlines. But the runners have always played a central role. In 1908, the SCC won the first 25 km relay from Potsdam to Berlin, which was initiated by Carl Diem. 50 runners needed 1:08:06 hours. The Berliner SC came in second.

The first German championship title was also won by a runner for the SCC: in 1908, Paul Nettelbeck won the 1500 m in 4:22.8 minutes. He had previously won the German marathon over 40 km, but official championships over the classic distance had only been held since 1925. It was in 1926 that a sensational world record was run at an SCC sports festival. Spectators in the overcrowded stadium on the Avus experienced a sensation. Dr. Otto Peltzer (Stettin) won the 1500 m in 3:51.0 minutes. He was beaten by one of the greatest long-distance runners of all time, the serial world record holder Paavo Nurmi (Finland).

SCCers were also very successful in sprinting at the time. During the 1929 German Relay Championships in Breslau, the club's 4x100 m relay team consisting of Körnig, Nathan, Grosser and Schlöske even set a world record of 40.8 seconds. However, the greatest success of an SCCer to date was achieved by a javelin thrower: Gerhard Stöck won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Berlin on August 6, 1936, with a throw of 71.84 m.

Just one year later, the ISTAF had its premiere in the Olympic Stadium in front of 80,000 spectators. Until 2001, the SCC organized this top-class athletics meeting together with the BSC and the OSC, but now a more modern structure has been found for this international meeting.

The great era of runners and races began for the SCC in the 1960s. And two names stand for this success story: Horst Milde and Bodo Tümmler. The most successful runner in the club's history was Bodo Tümmler. In 1966 he became European champion in the 1500 m in Budapest and third in the 800 m. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico he won bronze in the 1500 m. Horst Milde was also successful as a middle-distance runner for the SCC in the 1960s. In 1964 and 1965 he became German champion in the 3x1000 m relay together with Tümmler and Gerhard Kopp.

Less than four months later, Horst Milde and his helpers started the running movement. On November 8, 1964, the cross-country race was started in Grunewald - it was the birth of the fun run. The SCC cross-country race still exists today. The 1964 initiative developed into the BERLIN MARATHON - one of the largest marathons in the world. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the SCC was temporarily more well-attended than ever before due to the influx of athletes from the former GDR. The middle-distance runner Jens-Peter Herold, the German marathon record holder Jörg Peter and, above all, Uta Pippig started for the club with the black C. Wearing the SCC jersey, Uta Pippig was the first German to win the New York Marathon, winning three times in Berlin and Boston. Damian Kallabis caused a sensation in 1998 when he became European champion in the 3000 m steeplechase.

The decade from 2000 to 2010 was dominated by the throwers and walkers of the SCC Berlin. The greatest successes of this decade were celebrated at the home World Championships in 2009 with the World Championship title in discus throwing for Robert Harting and 5th place in the 50km walk for André Höhne. But athletes such as Julia Fischer were also able to achieve many successes at national and international level in the youth sector.

In 2011, Robert Harting managed to defend his title at the World Championships in Daegu. Julia Fischer also won gold again at international level and became U23 European champion in the discus throw. The sprinters of SCC Berlin achieved something unique this year. They won the German championship titles for men, juniors and men's A-youths in the 4x100m. A great performance by Lou Buadu, Isamil-Jean Condé, Eric Franke, Robert Hind, Lucas Jakubcyzk, Maximilian Kessler, George Petzold, Oliver Pritzlaff and the responsible relay coach Carsten Köhrbrück. 2011 was one of the most successful years for SCC Berlin, which was also reflected in the club rankings with 8th place in Germany.

The year 2012 will go down as one of the most successful in the history of athletics at the SCC. Four athletes qualified for the Olympic Games in London. The most notable was Robert Harting's Olympic victory in the discus throw. After Gerhard Stöckl in 1938, he was only the second Olympic champion from the SCC. At the end of his career, André Höhne competed in the 50km walk (11th place) and 20km walk (21st place), and Julia Fischer and Lucas Jakubczyk were able to compete at the Olympics for the first time. At the European Championships, the SCC athletes won gold (Robert Harting discus) and silver (Lucas Jakubcyzk - 4x100) and Julia Fischer took 5th place in the discus throw. In addition, with Lucas Jakubczyk, the SCC has another German champion in the 100m for the first time in decades.

In 2013, Robert Harting repeated his success at the World Championships and won his third title in a row in the discus throw. Lucas Jakubczyk also performed outstandingly, coming fourth in the 4x100m relay. And three other SCC athletes made it to the World Championships - Julia Fischer and Christoph Harting in the discus throw, where both unfortunately narrowly missed the final, and Maximilian Kessler as a substitute for the 4x100m relay. Five SCC athletes at the World Championships is a great result.

In 2014, the highlight of the season for the adults was the European Championships in Zurich and two SCC members were instrumental in the 8 medals won by the German Athletics Association. Robert Harting defended his European Championship title - despite major changes in his environment - and Lucas Jakubczyk won the silver medal with the 4x100m relay and came fifth in the 100m. Julia Fischer also took 6th place in the women's discus final. For the U20s, the World Championships in Eugene were the highlight of the season and Noelya Schonig was part of the DLV team as a member of the 4x400m relay.

In 2015, the department unfortunately had to do without its figureheads Robert Harting and Lucas Jakubczyk at the season's highlight due to injury, but with Julia Fischer (5th place) and Christiph Harting (8th place), the SCC was still well represented internationally.

The 2016 Olympic year had its ups and downs - the highlight of the year was Christoph Harting's Olympic discus victory. He followed in the footsteps of his brother, who won the Olympic gold medal in London four years earlier and unfortunately did not make it to the final in Rio due to injury. Lucas Jakubczyk qualified for the 100m and came 40th in the world and 9th in the 4x100m relay. Julia Fischer also did not do so well in Rio after her European Championship silver, and for Charlene Woitha, at just 22 years old, it was time to gain experience. But the record with 5 Olympic starters was more than impressive.

In 2017, Robert Harting was able to compete internationally again after a long injury and achieved 6th place at the World Championships. At the U23 European Championships in Bydgoszcz, Hendrikje Richter won silver with the 4x400m relay and Liane Weidner took 12th place in the 3000m steeplechase competition. The SCC was represented by three athletes at the U18 World Championships in Kenya.

The highlight of the 2018 season was the European Championships in the Olympic Stadium at home. Robert Harting was in the ring for the last time at an international championship, and in his "living room" at that. He finished 6th. Lucas Jakubczyk made it to the semi-finals in the 100m. Unfortunately, his almost certain place in the final with his DLV relay colleagues failed due to a fall. Two weeks after the European Championships, Robert Harting ended his career at the ISTAF with his last cry!

In 2019, newcomer Gina Lückenkemper was the most successful SCC athlete. She won bronze in the 4x100m at the World Relays, sprinted into the 100m semi-finals at the World Championships and won the international meetings in Lucerne (100m) and the ISTAF Berlin (relay). Charlene Woitha won the German championship title in Berlin's Olympic Stadium and a little later silver with the DLV at the European Team Championships. The SCC was represented three times at the U23 European Championships with Emil Agyekum (400m hurdles), Alica Schmidt (4x400m) and Agnes Thurid Gers (3000m steeplechase) and achieved an excellent result with two bronze medals (Emil, Alica) and a 4th place.

In 2020 and 2021, difficult times were reached due to the Corona pandemic and a regular competition calendar with its international highlights was not possible. While the winter season was still successful in 2020 and Neele Koopmann became German youth champion (U20) in the hammer throw, no international competitions took place this year and the Olympics were postponed to 2021. At the German Championships, U20 athlete Blanka Dörfel was the most successful medal collector with 4 gold medals in the U23 and adult classes.

In the Olympic year 2021, Emil Agyekum won both silver in the 400m hurdles and bronze in the 4x400m relay. With Gina Lückenkemper, Alica Schmidt (substitute) and Christoph Harting (substitute), three SCC women were nominated for the Olympic Games. Gina Lückenkemper sprinted to 5th place with the DLV 4x100m relay. At the Paralympic Games, Ali Lacin won the bronze medal in the 200m T61 after briefly holding the world record in his class in the long jump (T63) and ultimately finishing in 5th place.

The athletics department of the SCC Berlin currently has the most members and is one of the most successful clubs within the Berlin Athletics Association.