Thomas Dold
Encyclopedia
Thomas Dold is a German track and field and extreme athlete and a tower runner
, stair runner
, world-record holding champion backwards runner
.
Dold has competed a number of times in the most prestigious tower run of the world, the Empire State Building
Run Up in New York. He first participated in 2005 and finished second. The next year he won the competition, the youngest competitor ever to do so. When he participated the third time on February, 6th 2007 he was able to defend his title. In February 2008 he finished the run with his personal record time of 10 minutes, 8 seconds and won for the third time in a row. He followed it up with another win in 2009 in a time of 10 minutes and 6 seconds. On June, 15th 2008 Thomas Dold won the tower run up 2,046 steps to the 91st level of Taipei 101
, which was the highest skyscraper of the world at that time. It took him 10 minutes, 53 seconds.
Thomas Dold is also part of the world elite in backwards running, the so-called Retro-Running. His greatest success was winning two World Championship titles at any one time in 2006 in Rotkreuz/Switzerland and in 2008 in Pietrasanta/Italy. Currently he holds 5 world records in backwards running between 400 meters and a mile.
Tower running
Tower running is a sport, which involves running up tall man-made structures. Usually the races take place on the internal staircases of skyscrapers, but the term can cover any foot race which involves a course that ascends a man-made structure....
, stair runner
Stair climbing
Stair climbing is the climbing of a flight of stairs. It is often described as a "low-impact" exercise, often for people who have recently started trying to get in shape.A common exhortation in health pop culture is "Take the stairs, not the elevator"....
, world-record holding champion backwards runner
Backward running
Backward running, also known as backwards running, running backwards, reverse running, retro running, or retro locomotion is the act of running in reverse, so that one travels in the direction one's back is facing rather than one's front. It is classed as a retro movement, the reverse of any normal...
.
Dold has competed a number of times in the most prestigious tower run of the world, the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
Run Up in New York. He first participated in 2005 and finished second. The next year he won the competition, the youngest competitor ever to do so. When he participated the third time on February, 6th 2007 he was able to defend his title. In February 2008 he finished the run with his personal record time of 10 minutes, 8 seconds and won for the third time in a row. He followed it up with another win in 2009 in a time of 10 minutes and 6 seconds. On June, 15th 2008 Thomas Dold won the tower run up 2,046 steps to the 91st level of Taipei 101
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 , formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010...
, which was the highest skyscraper of the world at that time. It took him 10 minutes, 53 seconds.
Thomas Dold is also part of the world elite in backwards running, the so-called Retro-Running. His greatest success was winning two World Championship titles at any one time in 2006 in Rotkreuz/Switzerland and in 2008 in Pietrasanta/Italy. Currently he holds 5 world records in backwards running between 400 meters and a mile.
Stair running
- 2004: 2nd place DonauturmDonauturmThe Vienna Donauturm[p] , opened in April 1964, is the tallest free-standing structure in Austria, at , the tallest structure in Austria, and among the 75 tallest towers in the world. The tower is located near the north bank of the Danube River in the district of Donaustadt. In the infobox there...
Run Up, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... - 2004: 1st place Uptown Run Up, MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
- 2005: 2nd place Empire State BuildingEmpire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
Run Up, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... - 2005: 3rd place Donauturm Run Up, Vienna
- 2006: 1st place Empire State Building Run Up, New York
- 2006: 2nd place Taipei 101Taipei 101Taipei 101 , formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010...
Run Up, Taipei - 2006: 1st place Sky Run BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- 2006: 1st place Donauturm Run Up, Vienna
- 2006: 1st place FernsehturmFernsehturm StuttgartThe Fernsehturm Stuttgart is the world's first TV tower built from concrete ....
lauf, StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million .... - 2006: 1st place Towerruning, BaselBaselBasel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
- 2007: 1st place Empire State Building Run Up, New York
- 2007: 2nd place Taipei 101 Run Up, Taipei
- 2007: 1st place Sky Run, Berlin
- 2007: 1st place Donauturm Run Up, Vienna
- 2007: 1st place Fernsehturmlauf, Stuttgart
- 2007: 2nd place Towerruning, Basel
- 2008: 1st place Empire State Building Run Up, New York
- 2008: 1st place Taipei 101 Run Up, Taipei
- 2008: 1st place Swissotel Vertical Marathon, Singapore
- 2008: 1st place Sky Run, Berlin
- 2008: 1st place Fernsehturmlauf, Stuttgart
- 2008: 1st place Pirelli Towerrun, Milan
- 2008: 1st place Towerrun, Benidorm
- 2009: 1st place Empire State Building Run Up, New York
- 2009: 1st place Sydney Tower Run Up, Sydney (7 mins 4 seconds)
- 2010: 1st place Empire State Building Run Up, New York
- 2010: Withdraw the competition Torre Colpatria Run Up, Bogotá - Colombia
- 2011: 1st place Empire State Building Run Up, New York
- 2011: 1st place SkyRun, Frankfurt
- 2011: 1st place Bitexco Vertical Run, Ho Chi MinhHo Chi Minh CityHo Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
Backward running
- 2004: German Backward Running champion
- 2005: German Backward Running champion
- 2006: Backward Running World Champion (400 and 3000 meters)
- 2008: Backward Running World Champion (400 and 3000 meters)
Backward running world records
- 2003: 1000 meter (3:32.35, broken in 2008)
- 2004: 800 meter (2:40.00, broken in 2008)
- 2005: 400 meter (1:09.56)
- 2006: 1500 meter (5:24.00)
- 2008: 1000 meter (3:20.09)
- 2008: 800 meter (2:31.30)