Bruno Kimmel’s 100 WR for M75 almost defies imagination
On July 11, 2009, I was shooting sprinters at Oshkosh nationals, especially admiring my fellow Jayhawk, M70 Bob Lida. He outlegged Robert Whilden 13.58 to 13.68 in a wind-aided 100-meter final. Hard to fathom such speed at that age. I’d be a half-second behind! But what words describe what happened across the Atlantic the same day? At German nationals, 75-year-old Bruno Kimmel smashed a countryman’s world record in the 100, clocking a legal 13.54. That beat the listed M75 WR of 13.61 by Wolfgang Reuter. And it effectively erased Payton Jordan’s legendary hand-timed 13.4 from 1992. Bruno — born March 3, 1934 — is showing how speed persists well into the 70s. He later won the M75 title at Lahti, dashing 13.63 to lead a 1-2-4 German sweep (shown below). Now the race is on to see who will be the oldest man to run the 1 in sub-13. The current oldest appears to be Payton Jordan, who ran 12.91 at age 74. Incredible.
From left: Friedrich Ingenrieth, Rudolf Böckl, Alan Mellett (obscured) and Bruno.
Results from older age groups during Bruno’s WR day of July 11, 2009.
And here are results of the Lahti M75 100 final (note four Germans in the top seven):
M75 100 m Final Stadion Wind: -0,1
1. Bruno Kimmel 1934 GER 13,63
2. Rudolf Böckl 1934 GER 13,97
3. Alan Mellett 1933 GBR 14,45
4. Manfred Konopka 1931 GER 14,95
5. Jaakko Nieminen 1931 FIN 15,16
6. Friedrich Ingenrieth 1934 GER 15,27
7. Terho Välimäki 1929 FIN 15,46
Dick Richards 1934 USA DNF
Dick Richards of Encinitas (near San Diego) pulled a groin and didn’t finish, but did manage to set an American M75 record in the long jump at Lahti!
4 Responses
Bruno is awesome!! As an expat who lived in Germany and trained with (well followed is more like it) Bruno and group in 08 it is great to see him recognised.
His wife Renate is also world class (W-70) and won at the German championship, was 2nd in the 100M, long jump and 1st on the relay at Lahti as well. They are a class act, kind, generous, supportive very patient and special people. Their training group is made up of world champions, German national champions and record holders. Some of these people have been training for 50-65 years!! It was a honor to be included in training sessions as well as social activites. I went to workouts with a German/American dictionary so we could translate track terms. A fond memory is when Bruno gently suggested that after many (failed) attempts at starting blocks training that I should forget using blocks for anything. He felt I would waste more time trying to get out of them then with a standing start. I might even hurt myself!! As a final note he also (again)very gently suggested that I should move up from the 100m and run the 400m. They help youth in their town as well as others who drive from miles away. It was an experience of a life time., Bruno and Renate, you are my heroes!!
Sorry, that is not Manfred Konopka on the picture,is he obscured?
He was 4th. (Old time friend)
Christel, you’re right! My apologies to Friedrich Ingenrieth. I’ve corrected the caption.
Amazing, simply amazing.
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