Friedrich von Stülpnagel

Friedrich von Stülpnagel was a German sprinter who competed mainly over 400 metres. Born on 16 July 1913 in Lichterfelde, Berlin, he trained for only about five months at the Army Sports School Wünsdorf before placing third at the 1936 German Championships, which earned him a place at the Berlin Olympics. At the 1936 Summer Olympics he ran the second leg of the German 4 x 400 metres relay team that took the bronze medal, and he was the first sportsman from Potsdam to win an Olympic medal. His personal best for the 400 metres was 48.9 seconds, set in 1936. He retired from athletics a year later to concentrate on a military career, serving as a professional soldier in the Wehrmacht and later the Bundeswehr, where he retired as a colonel in 1972. He also became chief executive of the Federal Border Police Association in 1955. He died in 1996.