Andreas Decker

The DHfK four-man 1974 from left to right: Trainer Jörg Weissig, Brietzke , Decker, Mager , Semmler and in the front helmsman Lehmann

Andreas Decker (born August 19, 1952 in Zwickau ) is a German former rower from the GDR. He won two Olympic gold medals in the four without a helmsman .

Life

Decker grew up in Light Fir . In 1967 Decker followed a call from Heinz Quermann in the Christmas program Between Breakfast and Roast Goose , where tall children were asked to report to the rowing section in Leipzig. Decker won the Spartakiade and the Youth World Championships as early as 1970 . In 1973 Decker was European champion with the GDR eighth. In 1974 he switched to the four without a helmsman. With Siegfried Brietzke , Andreas Decker, Stefan Semmler and Wolfgang Mager , the boat from SC DHfK Leipzig dominated this boat class in the next few years. The four rowers became world champions in Lucerne in 1974 and in Nottingham in 1975, and Olympic champions in Montreal in 1976 . In 1977 in Amsterdam and 1979 in Bled the boat was again world champion, only in 1978 in New Zealand was the Soviet boat defeated and won silver. In the 1980 Olympic season, Mager injured his hand and was represented by Jürgen Thiele . Together, the crew won the Olympic Games in Moscow well ahead of the hosts' boat.

After the fall of the Wall, Decker was President of the Saxon State Sports Association until 1998. In 1992 he was elected fifth vice president of the German Sports Confederation, but resigned from this position after two years due to illness.

In 2012, he was awarded the Saxon Order of Merit for his long-term commitment to sport .

Awards (selection)

• 1974 - Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze
• 1976 - Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver
• 1980 - Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold

literature

• Volker Kluge : The great lexicon of GDR athletes. The 1000 most successful and popular athletes from the GDR, their successes and biographies. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-348-9 .
• Volker Kluge: Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle III. Mexico City 1968 - Los Angeles 1984. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00741-5 .

Web links

• German success at rowing world championships
• Andreas Decker in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Freie Presse Online: Andreas Deckers receives the Saxon Order of Merit , accessed on March 20, 2012
2. ↑ About the honor for the Olympic team of the GDR. Awarded high government awards. Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In: New Germany . September 10, 1976, p. 4 , accessed on April 10, 2018 (online at ZEFYS - newspaper portal of the Berlin State Library , free registration required).