Ulf Timmermann

Ulf Timmermann, born on 1 November 1962 in East Berlin, is a retired German shot putter who was one of the most dominant throwers of the 1980s. He became the first person in history to throw over 23 metres, achieving 23.06 m at Chania, Greece on 22 May 1988, and remains one of only four men to have reached that mark.

Timmermann took up shot put at age 13 and broke his first world record in 1985 with a throw of 22.62 m. He won Olympic gold for East Germany at the 1988 Seoul Games, where the competition was so fierce that the fourth-place throw would have won every previous Olympic shot put final. He represented unified Germany at the 1992 Olympics, finishing fifth before retiring from competition.

Timmermann remains the farthest thrower of all time using the glide technique and surpassed 22 metres in 16 different competitions throughout his career. He was coached by Werner Goldmann.