Career
However, he was overtaken on the final straight by Francesco Panetta (silver) and Hagen Melzer of the German Democratic Republic (gold). In 1987 Ilg participated in the World Championships final in Rome but missed out on a medal. His time of 8:15.06 minutes from the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki remained his career best time.
This result places him eighth on the German all-time performers list, behind Damian Kallabis, Hagen Melzer, Frank Baumgartl, Rainer Schwarz, Uwe Pflügner, Michael Karst and Steffen Brand.
He competed for the sports clubs TG Hofen and LAC Quelle Fürth during his active career.