Rosemarie "Rosi" Ackermann (; born 4 April 1952) is a German former high jumper, Olympic champion and multiple world record holder. In Berlin on 26 August 1977, she became the first female high jumper to clear a height of two metres.[1]
She was born in Lohsa, Saxony. As Rosemarie Witschas, she represented East Germany in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, finishing seventh behind Ulrike Meyfarth.
In 1974, at the European Championships in Rome, she won her first international title, setting a new world record of 1.95m. Later that year, she married handball player Manfred Ackermann, and assumed his surname. Two years later, when she won the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Canada.[2]
On 26 August, 1977, she became the first woman to clear 2.00 metres. [3]
In 1978, she lost her European title to Italian jumper Sara Simeoni.[2] Ackermann retired from athletics after the 1980 Olympics, at which she placed fourth, just outside the medals.
Ackermann is the last female high jumper to set a world record using the straddle technique. She is also the last high jumper of either gender to win an Olympic gold medal in the high jump with that technique.
Competing for the sports club SC Cottbus,[4] [5] Ackerman was East German high jump champion in 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980, and also won bronze medals in 1969 and 1972. She was the East German indoor champion in 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1980.