Guido passed away on Tuesday December 9, after a long illness

Guido Müller (1938–2025): From Württemberg Youth Champion to Three-Time World Masters Athletics’ Athlete of the Year

Guido Müller (TSV Vaterstetten), Germany’s most successful Masters track and field athlete, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 87 in Munich-Waldtrudering after a long and serious illness.

As journalist Mirko Weber wrote in the Stuttgarter Zeitung in 2014, “The story of Guido Müller is one of the happiest among many happy stories in sport.” Born in Stuttgart in 1938, Müller began his athletics career as a young competitor for Salamander Kornwestheim, where he quickly found success at the state level. At 18, he won the Württemberg youth championship in the 400 meters with a time of 51.6 seconds.

Despite being advised against it, he later set his sights on the 400-meter hurdles—a challenge that only motivated him more. In 1964, he qualified for the joint East/West German Olympic trials in Berlin, running 51.3 seconds. He finished fifth, narrowly missing qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games, despite equaling his personal best.

At that time, Müller had completed his vocational training at the Salamander shoe company and was working long hours, from 6:40 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., fitting in two training sessions per week. The company later sent him to New York for two years. On the return journey he met his future wife, Helga, a Munich native. After time together in Italy, the couple settled in Munich, built a home, and started their own business.

For a while, sport took a back seat—apart from some casual jogging. When he gained ten kilograms, he decided it was time to act. In early 1982, a senior athletics group had formed in Vaterstetten, and Müller, then in his early forties, returned to the sport. His initial goal was modest: train once a week with peers at a level similar to the German sports badge. That goal changed quickly.

By 1983, newly entered into the M45 age group, Müller won his first two German Masters titles in Schriesheim—both in age-group record times. One championship followed another, and success built upon success. German titles were followed by European and then world titles—remarkably, all achieved without a coach.

In the United States, a Masters athlete with Müller’s accomplishments would be called the “GOAT”—the Greatest of All Time. When he retired from competition in 2019, he looked back on 38 years in Masters athletics. In that time he was named World Masters Athlete of the Year three times, Europe’s Senior Athlete of the Year twice, and amassed an extraordinary record: 48 world titles, 103 European titles, and 156 German national titles.

Müller’s dedication made a strong impression not only among Masters athletes. During the winter, he trained in the Werner-von-Linde indoor arena, often alongside the training group of sprinter Christian Blum (Germany’s 2006 national champion in the 60 meters). “It was impressive to see the precision and intensity with which he trained,” Blum recalled. “He regularly asked what he could do to improve.”

In 2019, Müller summarized his approach to high-performance sport:
“What matters to me is that I never experienced training for competition as a burden or frustration, but primarily as a joy grounded in a positive inner attitude. Even perfect training does not guarantee a result that matches one’s capability. Mental preparation is essential to performing well. Excessive training increases the risk of injury, and the importance of rest and recovery—mental and physical—is often underestimated. And of course, a healthy lifestyle is essential.”

In the years after retiring from competition, Müller remained active, though more as a jogger than a sprinter. His illness (Parkinson’s disease) increasingly limited him, and he was only rarely seen at the stadium, with most contacts limited to private visits. 

With kind regards,
Theo Kiefner