Wilhelm LEICHUM

Sprinter and long jumper Wilhelm Leichum earned a bronze medal with the sprint relay by running the first leg at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. He also finished fourth in the long jump only 1 cm behind Japan’s Naoto Tajima. In 1934 and 1938 Leichum was European Champion in the long jump. By profession he was a soldier in the Wehrmacht. He was killed in action during World War II in 1941 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and is buried at the war cemetery in Gorki. Posthumously he was promoted to captain in 1943, so that his wife and three children received a better pension.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.4 (1936); LJ – 7.76 (1936).