Falk Balzer

Falk Balzer (born 14 December 1973 in Leipzig) is a former German hurdler and the son of former East German hurdler Karin Balzer. He is best known for winning the silver medal at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary and the bronze medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships. He represented his native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Falk Balzer is the German national record holder in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.41s.

Athletics Career
During his entire career Falk Balzer was coached by his parents, Karin Balzer and Karl-Heinz Balzer. His first success in the 110m hurdles was in 1989, where he won the bronze medal in the last GDR Spartakiad (GDR youth championships).

In 1994 he won the U23-European Cup in Ostrava in the 110m hurdles.

In 1995 he finished sixth in the 110m hurdles at the Universiade, where he also ran the 4x 400m relay.

In 1996 he won his first German Indoor Championships in the 60m hurdles with a winning time of 7.53s. In the 60m hurdles of the European Indoor Championships he finished fourth.

In 1997 he competed in the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships in Paris, but was eliminated in the semifinals. At the German Championships he won bronze in the 110m hurdles and qualified for the World Championships in Athens, where he ran a new personal best of 13.37s in the heats. In the semifinals he hit the ninth hurdle which caused him to miss the final.

In 1998 Balzer set his first national indoor record in the 60m hurdles of 7.47s. That season he also won the German Indoor Championships in the 60m hurdles at a winning time of 7.49s. In the summer season he was the German national champion in the 110m hurdles (13.28s) and at the European Cup in Saint Petersburg he earned the silver medal in a new personal best of 13.22s, just beaten by Colin Jackson. At an international meeting in Monte Carlo, he improved his personal best in the 110m hurdles to 13.13s and placed third behind Mark Crear and Allen Johnson. At the European Championships he finished second in the 110m hurdles, behind Colin Jackson, in another new personal best of 13.12s. It was the fastest 110m hurdles final ever. Balzer won the World Cup in Johannesburg in the 110m hurdles in his all time best of 13.10s.

In 1999 he improved his own national indoor record to 7.41s in the 60m hurdles. With this time he is the second fastest European all time in the 60m hurdles. Later that season he finished third at the World Indoor Championships in a winning time of 7.44s. Until today he is the only German who won a medal at world championships in the 60m hurdles. In the 1999 summer season he won the European Cup in the 110m hurdles and came fifth in the World Championships in Sevilla. He also competed in the 110m hurdles at the Military World Games and won the silver medal behind Stanislav Olijars.

In 2000 he once again was the German Indoor Champion in the 60m hurdles. After his victory he had a disagreement with the German Athletics Association which resulted in an official penalty. Later that year he finished fifth in the European Indoor Championships, won the European Cup and came third in the German Championships. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney he had the chance to win a medal, due to his seasons best of 13.19s, but he severely injured his elbow in the Olympics preparation camp, which caused him to be eliminated in the semifinals.

Balzer tested positive for nandrolone in January 2001 (10.2 ng). Differences in urine density and PH-value of the submitted and analyzed urine sample were not considered relevant by the German Athletics Association. A DNA analysis only confirmed a possible connection to Falk Balzer, but no 100% match. On the same day of the positive test Balzer had a blood test. The additional testing of the blood sample was rejected by the German Athletics Association. In spite of these doubts the German Athletics Federation subsequently handed him a two-year doping ban.

In 2003 he gave his comeback at the German Indoor Championships, resulting in a fifth position in the 60m hurdles. He was then diagnosed with Epstein-Barr virus, but still managed to get silver at the German Championships in the 110m hurdles in summer.

In 2004 Balzer ran the 110m hurdles at a competition in Cuxhaven, when he hit the ninth hurdle and fell. This caused a partial tear in his right Achilles tendon. Despite this injury he managed to still run a 13,61s in the 110m hurdles in Lausanne later that season. During the warm-up for the German Championships his Achilles tendon completely tore. This ended his career. In 2008 and 2011 Falk Balzer competed again, but was not able to return to his old performances. In 2008 he got fourth in the 110m hurdles at the German Championships and in 2011 he was fifth in the 60m hurdles at the German Indoor Championships.

Coaching
Starting in 1998, Balzer coached - in cooperation with his parents Karin Balzer and Karl-Heinz Balzer – the 400m runner Anja Rücker. In 1999 she earned silver in the 400m at the World Championships in Sevilla in a new personal best of 49,74s.

2016 to 2017 he coached the two-time world champion in the 400m hurdles, Zuzanna Hejnova. During the indoor season of 2017 Hejnova achieved a new personal best in the 60m hurdles of 8.25s. During that season she also competed in the 400m at the European Indoor Championships and won the silver medal.

In 2018 Balzer started coaching Georg Fleischhauer, previously a 400m hurdler, in the high hurdles and as a bobsleigh breakman. During the German Championships Fleischhauer came third in 2020 and 2021, both in the 110m hurdles, and in 2021 he came second in the 60m hurdles at the German Indoor Championships. In 2023 Fleischhauer won the World Championships in the two-man-bobsleigh, as the breakman of Johannes Lochner.

Personal Life
Balzer is the son of Karin Balzer, Olympic Champion of 1964 in the 80m hurdles and winner of the Olympic bronze medal in the 100m hurdles in 1972. Karin Balzer set 7 world records and was the first woman run below 13s in the 100m hurdles. She was coached by her husband Karl-Heinz Balzer.

Balzer studied German and History and was awarded a masters degree in both disciplines.

In 1999 he was awarded the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr in silver.

Personal Bests
60m hurdles (indoors): 7.41s NR (29 January 1999 in Chemnitz, Germany)

110m hurdles: 13.10s (13 September 1998 in Johannesburg, South Africa)

On 7 February 1999 Balzer ran the 60m hurdles in Stuttgart, Germany in a winning time of 7.34s – only 0.04s slower than Colin Jackson's world indoor record at that time. Right after the race, Falk Balzer annulled the race himself, since he assumed a false start by himself. The jury on site considered the race valid and with that Balzer’s winning time of 7.34s. Almost two hours later a jury by the IAAF annulled the entire race since the video recording showed several other athletes, who also had false starts. The race still showed that Balzer was able to run below 7.40s at that time.

Achievements
1989: 3rd GDR Spartakiad (GDR youth championships)

1994: U23-European Cup Winner (110m hurdles)

1995: 6th at Universiade (110m hurdles)

1996: German Indoor Champion (60m hurdles), 4th at European Indoor Championships (60m hurdles)

1997: World Indoor Championships semifinalist (60m hurdles), 3rd at German Championships (110m hurdles), World Championships semifinalist (110m hurdles)

1998: German Indoor Champion (60m hurdles), German Champion (110m hurdles), 2nd at European Cup (110m hurdles), 2nd at European Championships (110m hurdles), World Cup winner (110m hurdles)

1999: 3rd at World Indoor Championships (60m hurdles), European Cup Winner (110m hurdles), 2nd at Military World Games (110m hurdles), 5th at World Championships (110m hurdles)

2000: German Indoor Champion (60m hurdles), 5th at European Indoor Championships (60m hurdles), European Cup winner (110m hurdles), 3rd at German Championships (110m hurdles), Olympics semifinalist (110m hurdles)

2003: 2nd at German Championships (110m hurdles)

2008: 4th at German Championships (110m hurdles)

2011: 5th at German Indoor Championships (60m hurdles)