Falk Hoffmann

Falk Hoffmann 1978

Falk Hoffmann (born August 29, 1952 in Chemnitz ) is a former German diver who competed for the GDR .

Falk Hoffmann began his sporting career as an art and high diver under his coach Ilse Krause at the age of 9 in the GDR. As early as 1967 he attracted international attention by winning the European Junior Championship. In 1968 he first reached the standards for participating in the Olympics in Mexico , but could not take part for financial reasons. For the first time, he joined the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and finished there, the places 7 and 9. Four years later, at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal , he reached the ranks 4 and 6. In the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow won Falk Hoffmann finally got gold from the 10-meter tower. For this success he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In 1977 he also achieved first place at the European Championships on the three-meter board. In 1978 he was runner-up in both disciplines. A highly controversial decision by a US referee at the time meant that his main competitor, the American Greg Louganis , was able to repeat a jump that had already jumped - and failed - because of alleged bad weather conditions.

In 1982 Falk Hoffmann ended his career as an art and high diver and worked for four years at the Martin Luther University in Halle as a university teacher. Following this work, the qualified sports teacher became a trainer in his old field of activity and trained, among other things, Melanie Frerk, who was junior world champion. In 1999 he was inducted into the international swimming pool 's hall of fame .

After the end of the GDR, Falk Hoffmann founded a sales agency for sports fashion items in Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. In addition to soccer at Halleschen FC, Falk Hoffmann played tennis at the Delitzscher Tennis Club in 1921. In 2002, he became the national champion of Saxony.

literature

• Short biography for:  Hoffmann, Falk . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Commons : Falk Hoffmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Falk Hoffmann in the International Swimming Hall of Fame (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Neues Deutschland , August 22, 1980, p. 3