Marianne Werner

Marianne Werner was a West German shot putter and discus thrower who won two Olympic medals in the 1950s. She took the silver medal in the shot put at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and the bronze medal in the same event four years later in Melbourne, and in the discus she finished ninth and tenth at those Games. Born on 4 January 1924 in Dülmen, she won the shot put at the 1958 European Championships, her greatest sporting moment, and held the national shot put titles in 1953-54 and 1956-59. She was named Sportswoman of the Year in 1958. A trained physiotherapist and sports teacher, she later became a professor at the Sports Science Institute of the University of Dortmund, and she died in Dortmund on 22 July 2023 at the age of 99.