Rosemarie Ackermann
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Rosemarie Ackermann (born April 4 1952) is a former German high jumper. She was the first female high jumper ever to cross the height of 2.00 m, on August 26, 1977 in Berlin.
She was born as Rosemarie Witschas in Lohsa, Saxony. Under that name, she took part for East Germany in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, finishing seventh behind Ulrike Meyfarth.
In 1974, at the European Championships in Rome, she won her first international title, setting a new world record (1.95) along the way. Later that year, she married handball player Manfred Ackermann, and assumed his surname. The crown on her career came two years later, when she won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada.
She lost her European title to Italian jumper Sara Simeoni in 1978, when they both cleared the world-record height of 2.01 m. However, Ackermann's early celebrations caused the rod to fall, leaving her with second place. Ackermann retired from athletics after the 1980 Olympics, where she placed fourth, just outside the medals.
| Olympic medalists in athletics (women) | Olympic Champions in High Jump |
| 1928: Ethel Catherwood | 1932: Jean Shiley | 1936: Ibolya Csák | 1948: Alice Coachman | 1952: Esther Brand | 1956: Mildred McDaniel | 1960: Iolanda Balaş | 1964: Iolanda Balaş | 1968: Miloslavá Rezková | 1972: Ulrike Meyfarth | 1976: Rosemarie Ackermann | 1980: Sara Simeoni | 1984: Ulrike Meyfarth | 1988: Louise Ritter | 1992: Heike Henkel | 1996: Stefka Kostadinova | 2000: Yelena Yelesina | 2004: Yelena Slesarenko |