He went on the run. And made others run. Not in a race, but in life. Not just on the road, but under it. Harry Seidel, from Berlin, Germany, born in 1938, national champion in track cycling's madison and meanwhile an electrician and newspaper courier: after World War II, when he found himself in the eastern part, divided from the western part by a wall, he went on the run. The first time alone, on the same day - August 13, 1961 - when the Berlin Wall was erected. The second time returning east and then west with his wife and child. The third time organizing a group escape: 34 people. The fourth time - arrested and escaped - again alone. From that point on through an underground tunnel, groups of 30, 50, 70 people, totaling between 100 and 200, until a new arrest, a new sentence, this time to life imprisonment, a new detention. After four years in prison, the irresistible Seidel was redeemed by the Federal Republic of Germany's government and released. And he started racing again. And even winning: national champion in the team pursuit at 35 years old.

The extraordinary escapes of Harry Seidel, "The Cyclist of the Berlin Wall", are narrated by Giacomo Corbellini and published among the "Stories of the Righteous in Sports" (Mimesis, 448 pages, 22 euros, edited by Gino Cervi, preface by Gabriele Nissim, https://www.tuttobiciweb.it/article/2025/03/07/1741282006/cycling-sports-human-rights-gino-bartali). His need to escape, and his determination to attempt it for himself and for family, friends, acquaintances and fellow citizens, probably stems from an injustice: not being selected for the Rome Olympics. He was 22 and had the credentials to participate in the Games, but was not considered, perhaps due to his refusal to use doping (anabolic steroids), or perhaps because of his declared opposition to the DDR regime.

On March 11th, Seidel was remembered in Milan and welcomed into the Garden of the Righteous, "like a clock measuring the moral time of the world", at the Montagnetta. Six new plaques: besides his, those for Polish skier Bronislaw Czech, Czechoslovakian long-distance runner and marathoner Emil Zatopek, his javelin-throwing wife Dana, the father of the Paralympic movement in Italy Antonio Maglio and Afghan footballer Khalida Popal, on the occasion of the 2026 Winter Olympics, "a stage where sport blends with life and destiny".