Former European and world pole vault champion Tim Lobinger, the first German to cross the mythical six-meter barrier in the late 1990s, has died of leukemia, his family announced on Friday.
Tim Lobinger succumbed to cancer in Munich on Thursday at the age of 50, the channel announced. RTL and the diary Imageciting a statement from the family saying the former athlete “fell asleep peacefully in his family circle”.
Tim Lobinger was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2017, then said he was “up against the wall” and would “fight” the disease, after which he underwent five rounds of chemotherapy and a cell transplant.
Tim Lobinger rose to fame as the first German pole vaulter to break the six-meter mark in 1997, at an outdoor meeting in Müngersdorf (Cologne), when the world record belonged to Ukrainian Sergei Bubka, with 6.14 meters.
Born in Rheinbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Tim Lobinger won his biggest indoor titles, becoming European Champion in 1998 in Valencia (Spain) and World Champion in 2003 in Birmingham (England).
Tim Lobinger has also been on the podium twice at the European Outdoor Championships, winning bronze in Munich (Germany) in 2002 and silver in Gothenburg (Sweden) in 2006.
Source: DN
