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Hildegard Falck
- Born
- Jun 3, 1949 (77 years old)
- Birthplace
- Bad Münder am Deister, Germany
- Events
- 800 m
- Height
- 1.73 m
- Weight
- 58 kg
Hildegard Falck is a retired West German runner. At the 1972 Olympics she won a gold medal in the 800 m and a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay with West German team. In the 800 m final she finished 0.1 seconds ahead of Nijolė Sabaitė and Gunhild Hoffmeister. On 11 July 1971 Falck ran the 800 m in 1:58.5 minutes in Stuttgart, improving the world record of Vera Nikolic by two seconds. She was the first woman to clock a time under two minutes if the unratified marks of Sin Kim Dan are discounted.
Her record stood until 1973. Before turning to athletics, Falck studied to become a secondary school teacher and trained in handball and swimming. In 1971, besides her 800 m world record, she won a gold medal in the 800 m at the European Indoor Championships and a silver in the 4 × 400 m relay at European Championships; she also helped Ellen Tittel, Sylvia Schenk and Christa Merten to break the 4 × 800 m world record. Domestically she won the 800 m titles in 1970 and 1971 (both indoor and outdoor), and in 1973 outdoor.
In 1972, she was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf of the German Track & Field Association. Falck was coached by her husband Rolf Falck. They later divorced, and she married Dr. Klaus Kimmich, a pentathlete with whom she had two children.
As of Oct 28, 2026: 800 m 1:58.5h (#259 all-time), 1974 season best 3:27.9h (Sep 8, 1974) · Last competition: Roma European Championships, Sep 8, 1974, 3:27.9h · Olympic Games: 1 gold, 1 bronze · 77 years old
Personal bests
WA points calculator →Medals
| Competitions | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | 1 | – | 1 | 2 |
Progression
| Season | Discipline | Result | Wind | Date | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 4x400m | 3:27.9h | – | Sep 8, 1974 | Roma European Championships |
| 1972 | 800m | 1:58.55 | – | Sep 3, 1972 | Olympiastadion, München (GER) |
| 1972 | 4x400m | 3:26.51 | – | Sep 10, 1972 | Olympiastadion, München (GER) |
| 1971 | 800m-short-track Indoor | 2:06.1h | – | Mar 13, 1971 | European Indoor Championships |
| 1971 | 800m | 1:58.45 | – | Jul 11, 1971 | Olympiastadion, Helsinki (FIN) |
| 1971 | 4x400m | 3:33.04 | – | Aug 15, 1971 | Helsinki European Championships |
| 1971 | 4x800Metre | 8:16.8h | – | Jul 31, 1971 | – |
| 1970 | 800m-short-track Indoor | 2:09.5h | – | Mar 15, 1970 | European Indoor Championships |