World Athletics has paid tribute to German pole vaulter Tim Lobinger, the 2003 world indoor champion, who has died aged 50 following a long illness ©Getty Images

World Athletics has paid tribute to German pole vaulter Tim Lobinger, the 2003 world indoor champion, who has died aged 50 following a long illness.

Lobinger, one of the most charismatic and popular athletes on the circuit, was a regular competitor at major championships and known for his extravagant celebrations.

He competed at four Olympic Games, seven outdoor World Championships, six World Indoor Championships, four European Championships and eight European Indoor Championships.

He is also a member of the exclusive six-metre club, having cleared that barrier in 1997 and 1999.

World Athletics said in a release that it was "deeply saddened" by the news.

Born in Rheinbach in 1972, Lobinger was a precocious talent and made his international debut at the 1990 World Under-20 Championships in Plovdiv.

He missed out on making the final on that occasion, but graduated to the podium at the European Junior Championships in 1991.

Two years later, aged 20, he made his senior championships debut at the 1993 World Championships on home soil in Stuttgart.

It was to be the first of 29 senior international championship appearances across an 18-year career span.

He competed in four Olympic Games with a best result of seventh at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Tim Lobinger competed in four Olympic Games with a best result of seventh at the 1996 Games in Atlanta ©Getty Images
Tim Lobinger competed in four Olympic Games with a best result of seventh at the 1996 Games in Atlanta ©Getty Images

After clearing 6.00m for the first time in 1997  and becoming the first German to do so - he won the European indoor title in Valencia in 1998 and followed it later that year with European silver in Budapest.

The second six-metre clearance of his career came in Oslo in 1999.

He regained the European indoor title in Vienna in 2002 and claimed European bronze on home soil in Munich several months later.

He then won world indoor gold at Birmingham in 2003, adding European indoor bronze two years later.

Lobinger achieved two more podium finishes in 2006, securing world indoor bronze and European silver in Gothenburg.

His last outdoor championship appearance came at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, while the final major championships of his career was the 2011 European Indoor Championships, where he placed eighth, aged 38 at the time.

After retiring from athletics, he worked as a fitness trainer for various soccer players and teams.

In early 2017, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia.

He underwent chemotherapy and made a good recovery, but the cancer returned in 2022.

Twice married, Lobinger leaves three children.