Helmut Recknagel (born 20 March 1937) is a former East German ski jumper who was active in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Recknagel was born in Steinbach-Hallenberg

Steinbach-Hallenberg

Steinbach-Hallenberg is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated in the Thuringian Forest, 8 km east of Schmalkalden, and 13 km northwest of Suhl.-References:-External links:*...

, Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

.

He earned a gold medal at the 1960 Winter Olympics

1960 Winter Olympics

The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...

 in ski jumping

Ski jumping

Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...

 and also won the Holmenkollen ski festival

Holmenkollen ski festival

The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. It takes place in March and has been arranged every year since 1892, except for 1898 and during World War II...

 ski jumping competition twice (1957 and 1960). At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...

, he won three medals: a bronze in 1958 and two medals in 1962, a gold in the individual large hill and a bronze in the individual normal hill. For his ski jumping efforts, Recknagel was awarded the Holmenkollen medal

Holmenkollen medal

The Holmenkollen medal is Norwegian skiing's highest award for competitors. It signifies top placings in international championships and other international events, including the Holmenkollen events....

 in 1960 (Shared with Sixten Jernberg

Sixten Jernberg

Eddy Sixten Jernberg is a retired Swedish cross country skier....

, Sverre Stensheim

Sverre Stensheim

Sverre Stensheim is a former Norwegian cross country skier.He was born in Oppdal.He won the 50 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival three straight years...

, and Tormod Knutsen

Tormod Knutsen

Tormod Knutsen is a former Norwegian nordic combined athlete. He was born in Eidsvoll. Already as a 16 year old he became named to Hovedlandsrennet, and two years later Norwegian junior champion in Ski jumping. From the season 1954/55 he started with Nordic combined...

). He was the first German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

to win the Holmenkollen medal.