Frank Klawonn (rower)

from left to right: Karsten Schmeling , Bernd Niesecke , Bernd Eichwurzel , Frank Klawonn and Hendrik Reiher become GDR champions in a four-man with helmsman in 1988

Frank Klawonn (born March 22, 1966 in Schwedt / Oder ) is a former rower from the German Democratic Republic . In 1988 Klawonn became Olympic champion in a four-man with helmsman .

Klawonn rowed for SG Dynamo Potsdam under coach Bernd Landvoigt . In 1984 Klawonn won the junior world championship in two-man without a helmsman . In 1986 he moved up to the already quite successful four with helmsman in the adult division. In the line-up of Karsten Schmeling , Bernd Niesecke , Bernd Eichwurzel , Frank Klawonn and Hendrik Reiher , the boat won the GDR championship in 1986 and 1988. The boat won the world championships in 1986 in Nottingham and 1987 in Copenhagen. At the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, the four-man from Potsdam won the gold medal with almost three seconds ahead of the boat from Romania. In 1989, Klawonn won again at the GDR championship in a foursome. In 1990 Thoralf Peters , Klawonn and helmsman Hendrik Reiher became the last GDR champion in two with helmsman , in 1991 the three won the title at the first all-German championship after the fall of the Wall . For his Olympic victory in 1988, as well as for winning the world title in 1986, he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold.

After the reunification, Klawonn switched from studying sports to finance and graduated with a degree in finance. He is a civil servant in Potsdam.

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 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Neues Deutschland , 12./13. November 1988, p. 4
2. ↑ Neues Deutschland, October 15, 1986, p. 7

Web links

• Frank Klawonn in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• German successes at world championships