On July 14Th 2005 Olympic Javelin Champion Othilie FLEISCHER

n July 14th 2005 Olympic Javelin champion OOthilie FLEISCHER, known universally as Tilly passed away at the age of 93. FLEISCHER was one of the most outstanding German female athletes of the thirties. She placed third in Los Angeles be- fore dominating the Olympic javelin competition of the following Olympiad. The daughter of a Frankfurt butcher started very early with sports, doing some gymnastics, tennis and athletics - especially pentathlon. In 1929 and 1930 she set two shot-put World Records (12.40m and 12.88m) which unfortunately were not recognized. None the less she had such suc- cesses in shot put and discus throwing which became her favourite discipline. She took second place in the Women's World Games in Prague 1930. She threw the javelin 35.82 metres. Two years later Tilly FLEISCHER participated in several events at the Los Angeles Olympic Games: She ran the third leg of the relay helping the German 4x100 metres relay team to sixth place (Grete HEUBLEIN, Ellen BRAUMULLER, and Marie DOLLINGER were her team mates) - the US-team won the race by 47 seconds beating Canada and the British. Five days earlier she had taken 4th place in the discus 36.12 meters - but her throw was nearly four and a half me- Tilly Fleischer tres shorter than the gold medallist Lillian COPE- at the 1936 Presentation LAND (1904-1964) USA. In the Javelin she won her Ceremony first Olympic medal. The event was won by the legendary Mildred Ella "Babe" DIDRIKSON (1911- 1956) 43.88 metres and Tilly's compatriot Ellen whole stadium shouted as with one voice. Then BRAUMULLER (1910-1991) was second with 43.49. there was the presentation ceremony. I received Tilly's threw a respectable 43.00m for Bronze. the gold medal, the laurel crown [sic!] and an Her success augured well for Berlin for years oak tree, which I later planted at the Frankfurt later: Waldstadion. The tree is now 30 metres high." Throwing the javelin was the first event of the Games of the XIth Olympiad Berlin 1936. On Au- After the presentation ceremony Tilly was invited gust 2nd the competition for the first gold medal together with the other two medallists to Adolf in these games began at 3 p.m. with 14 competi- HITLER'S Grand Stand. This visit to the so-called tors (16 were registered). FLEISCHER was by now "Fuhrerloge" nearly became an international in- 1.68m tall and weighed 68 kg. cident in the following days, but Henri de BAIL- She opened with a throw of 38.66 which placed LET-LATOUR asked the German Reichs Chancellor her only fourth. But her second attempt showed a not to give any more of these receptions to athletes decisive improvement: An Olympic record 44.69. because Olympic Rules did not allow this official This was enough for victory. Her main rivals contact. Later it was said that HITLER "refused to Luise KRUGER (*1915) threw only 43.29 and Maria shake hands" with Jesse OWENS which was defini- KWASNIEWSKA (*1913) 41.80m. FLEISCHER went on tively not the case. to improve her own mark by an additional 49 cen- The city of Frankfurt where Tilly had been an timetres to 45.18m. active athlete from the age of ten (and even city She had lost to Maria KWASNIEWSKA in an In- champion in tennis) donated her a car as acknowl- ternational match in Dresden but now the Olym- edgement of her victorious participation in the pic gold medal was hers and later she recalled the Games of Berlin. moment: Unfortunately these Games marked the end of Tilly's career in track and field athletics. However "The people were so excited that the competi- this exceptional athlete continued to be involved tions had to be suspended. 'Tilly! Tilly!' the in sport: in 1943 she was part of the Eintracht 66 JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 13(NOVEMBER 2005)3 Frankfurt Handball team which became National The oak tree she planted in 1936 at the entrance of Champions. the Waldstadion in Frankfurt, had to be cut down After World War II she moved to Lahr in the for safety reasons. But a new one was planted and Black Forest. In the meantime she had married will perpetuate the memory of Othilie "Tilly" and taken the name GROTE-FLEISCHER. She owned FLEISCHER. two shops for leather goods. There she lived until she died on Thursday July 14th, 2005. by Thomas Zawadzki She is survived by two daughters from her first marriage who still run the shop in Lahr. Tilly Fleischer at the javelin competition of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin JOURNAL OF OLYMPIC HISTORY 13(NOVEMBER 2005)3 67.

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