Horst Freese

Horst Freese
nation	German Democratic Republic (until 1969) Federal Republic of Germany (from 1969)
birthday	January 30, 1944
place of birth	Graal-Müritz
Career
society	SC Empor Rostock TSC Berlin BSG unit Berliner Bär Altonaer SV
status	resigned
Medal table
National medals 8 × 3 × 3 ×
GDR championships silver 1965 Berlin All-around gold 1966 Berlin All-around gold 1967 Berlin All-around gold 1968 Berlin 500 m single bronze 1968 Berlin 1500 m single bronze 1969 Berlin 500 m single German championships silver 1971 Hamburg Small four-way battle bronze 1971 Inzell Sprint four-way fight silver 1972 Inzell Sprint four-way fight gold 1973 Inzell Sprint four-way fight gold 1974 Inzell Sprint four-way fight gold 1975 Inzell Sprint four-way fight gold 1975 Berlin All-around gold 1976 Berlin Sprint four-way fight

Horst Freese (born January 30, 1944 in Graal-Müritz ) is a former German speed skater . He won national championship titles in both the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany and took part in the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

Career

Success in the GDR

Freese began playing handball in his youth at BSG Motor Rostock . The BSG was multiple champions in field and indoor handball in the GDR in the mid-1950s. After the founding of sports clubs in the GDR, the successful handball players were incorporated into the newly founded SC Empor Rostock , to which Freese now also belonged. In 1958 he changed the sport within the club and now began to skate. In this sport there was soon success and Freese took top positions in nationwide competitions.

In 1963 Freese received a place to study mechanical engineering at the engineering college in Berlin-Lichtenberg, after which he switched to the newly founded TSC Berlin . The domestic elimination competitions for the Olympic Winter Games in 1964 came too early for Freese, but from the following season 1964/65 he was part of the national team. In the same season he was able to win his first championship medals on the ice rink in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. He won silver over the 500 and 1500 m, and Freese won bronze over the long distance of 10,000 m. This also resulted in the silver rank in the all-around competition. The reward for this achievement was the nomination for the European speed skating championships in Gothenburg, Sweden . Together with Dieter Halbach , Freese represented the men of the DELV there . In the end it was only enough for 22nd place in the all-around competition, Freese achieved his best result with 11th place over 500 m.

For the following World Championship in Oslo in mid-February 1965 , Freese was nominated as the only male athlete by the DELV. There he finished 27th out of 43 participants. The following season 1965/66 began extremely successfully for Freese with the GDR championships. In addition to gold on the two short courses of 500 and 1500 m, he also secured silver over 5000 m and bronze over 10,000 m. In the end, this meant the championship title in the all-around competition. Consequently, Freese was nominated together with Herbert Braun for the European speed skating championships taking place in Deventer . There Freese made people sit up and take notice in the first discipline over 500 m with second place, but could not build on this performance over the further distances of 5000 and 1500 m. In the overall ranking he finished 21st out of 28 starters. Freese was also nominated for the speed skating world championships in Gothenburg in the same year. There he took 23rd place just behind Erhard Keller . In the 1966/67 season, Freese was able to defend his GDR championship title in early January 1967. He achieved exactly the same placements as in the previous season.

Exclusion from competitive sport in the GDR

After several top international results, the nomination for the European Championships in Lahti, Finland was only a matter of form. But at the end of January 1967 there was a bang. The Berliner Zeitung noted on January 26, 1967: The two young Berlin speed skaters Rainer Klehr from TSC (18 years old) and the dynamo runner Bernd Prusowski , who is a year younger, will represent the GDR at the European speed skating championships in Lahti at the weekend. The also planned TSC Freese was banned for disciplinary reasons and excluded from the DELV selection squad. The background was illegal contacts with the West. According to Freese's own statements, which he made in 2014, his future wife, who had moved to West Germany with her mother in 1960, has visited him every summer since that time. Thus, the then most powerful speed skater in the GDR was denied his competitive sporting career and the 1968 Olympic Games in Grenoble were a long way off. This is all the more remarkable since in December 1967 the SED central organ Neues Deutschland listed Freese as the GDR record holder at that time on four individual routes and in all-round competitions, thus once again demonstrating its performance.

Freese was delegated to the BSG unit Berlin Bear , where he continued to skate at a good level. This became evident shortly before Christmas 1967 when he competed in the GDR individual championships over 500 and 1500 m. The BSG athlete duped all other competitors over the short distance and defended his previous year's title. With a season best performance over 1500 m it was still enough for bronze. Despite these good performances, Freese was not allowed to return to the selection squad. Also in the post-Olympic season 1968/69 he appeared again at GDR championships for the BSG Berlin Bear. As part of the all-around championships, which took place at the end of December 1968, Freese achieved first place with a season best over the sprint distance of 500 m. At the individual championships in February 1969, Freese won bronze again over 500 m. For him this was the last championship medal in the GDR.

Escape to the Federal Republic and further sporting career

In May 1969 Freese managed to escape to West Berlin by means of escape helpers in Berlin. He moved to his fiancée in Cologne, after the marriage the couple moved to Hamburg.

Erhard Keller persuaded the just 25-year-old to put on his skates again, so that Freese was still on runners in 1969 and started for the Altonaer SV . As early as February 1970, the Northern Lights started at the German championships in the sprint four-way fight in Inzell , Bavaria , where it finished seventh. A bronze medal followed in 1971 and at the beginning of January 1972 even silver at the German championships in the sprint four-way fight.

This achievement evidently moved the DEU to nominate Freese for the German Olympic squad for the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan . On the other hand, however, the GDR's NOK insisted at the IOC with reference to the then rule No. 27 of the statutes, rules and conditions of participation of the IOC for the Olympic Games. Accordingly, an athlete was banned internationally for 3 years after a NOK change if he had previously been used internationally. Freese had left the GDR in May 1969, so his suspension only expired in May 1972 because he had represented the DELV at European Championships, even though this participation was more than three years ago. The IOC ultimately agreed with the objection and Freese only experienced Sapporo as a tourist.

As a kind of compensation, Freese was nominated for the sprint world championships at the end of February 1972 in Eskilstuna , Sweden , where he finished in a rather disappointing 30th place after a weak first run (32nd out of 35 starters). Freese was able to improve this result significantly in the following year 1973 at the Sprint World Championships in Oslo, he finished as the best German starter in eleventh place.

This good placement was preceded by winning the German championship title in the sprint four-way battle for the first time, which he won in Inzell at the end of 1972. Freese achieved the best time on all four routes. He was able to repeat this success from 1974 to 1976, and in 1975 he even managed to win the all-around championships with a wafer-thin margin. On the international stage, Freese was the best German sprinter until he retired from competitive sports in 1976. Since the European championships only took place in all-around competitions, Freese was only registered by the DEU for the sprint world championships. After a ninth place in Innsbruck in 1974 , he only finished 19th in Gothenburg in 1975. At the end of his career in March 1976, Freese achieved the best World Championship placement at the Sprint World Championships in West Berlin, he was ranked 8th as the best German sprinter. Before that, he was given special satisfaction. After missing the Olympic Winter Games in 1968 and 1972, the DEU nominated the then 32-year-old Freese for the Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck . There he experienced light and shadow. Over his parade discipline 500 m he fell and disappeared behind an advertising strip. Over the 1000 m he took a good ninth place.

After the sporting career

After retiring from competitive sports, Freese worked as a mechanical engineer in Hamburg until 2007. After retiring, he returned to Rostock in the same year.

Web links

Commons : Horst Freese  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• North German news from April 8, 2014
• Horst Freese in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Neues Deutschland from January 25, 1965 p. 6
2. ↑ Neues Deutschland from February 1, 1965 p. 4
3. ↑ Neues Deutschland from February 15, 1965 p. 4
4. ↑ Results of the European Championships in 1966. Accessed on November 14, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Results of the 1966 World Championships. Accessed November 15, 2018 . 
6. ^ Results of the GDR championships in 1967. Retrieved on November 15, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of January 26, 1967 p. 7
8. ↑ North German Latest News from April 8, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Neues Deutschland, December 5, 1967, p. 5
10. ↑ Results of the GDR individual championships in 1968. Retrieved on November 15, 2018 . 
11. ^ Results of the GDR all-around championships 1968. Accessed on November 15, 2018 . 
12. ↑ Results of the GDR individual championships in 1969. Retrieved on November 15, 2018 . 
13. ↑ Results of the German championships in the sprint four-way fight in 1970. Accessed on November 15, 2018 . 
14. ↑ Results of the German championships in the sprint four-way fight in 1972. Accessed on November 15, 2018 . 
15. ↑ Berliner Zeitung of February 2, p. 8
16. ↑ Results of the 1972 Sprint World Championships. Accessed November 15, 2018 . 
17. ↑ Results of the 1973 Sprint World Championships. Accessed November 15, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Results of the Sprint World Championships 1976. Accessed November 15, 2018 . 
19. ↑ Results of the 1000 m run at the 1976 Olympics. Accessed November 15, 2018 .