Matthias Wiegand

Matthias Wiegand (born April 22, 1954 in Plauen ) is a former cyclist from the GDR . In 1980 he won an Olympic silver medal in the team pursuit .

Athletic career

Wiegand started cycling at BSG Handwerk Plauen after winning a competition for touring cyclists . He later moved to SC Karl-Marx-Stadt . In 1970 he won the individual race in the youth B class on the street at the children and youth spartakiad, in 1972 he won the street and the single pursuit . His great potential became clear when he won the international rally for juniors in 1972. In 1973 he took second place behind Günter Mosch at the GDR championship in cyclo-cross . At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal Wiegand competed with the GDR's four- wheeler in his first major championship, together with Norbert Dürpisch , Thomas Huschke and Uwe Unterwalder , he finished fourth.

At the 1977 World Cup in San Cristóbal , the GDR four-man won a major title for the first time; the team with Norbert Dürpisch , Gerald Mortag , Matthias Wiegand and Volker Winkler defeated the four-man from the Federal Republic of Germany in the final. A year later at the World Championships in Munich, Mortag, Unterwalder, Wiegand and Winkler were able to repeat their success by beating the Soviet four-man in the final. In 1979 Wiegand was not part of the GDR foursome at the World Cup, but he won his first GDR championship title in the team pursuit. In 1980 the four-man from SC Karl-Marx-Stadt repeated his success at the GDR championship. At the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Mortag, Unterwalder, Wiegand and Winkler lost to the Soviet four in the final.

Professional

Matthias Wiegand is a qualified sports teacher. In GDR times, he was a research assistant at the Pedagogical University Zwickau , since 1997 he has been a rehabilitation consultant working at a rehabilitation service.

Honors

After winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Moscow , he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze.

literature

• Volker Kluge : Lexicon athletes in the GDR . New Life Publishing House, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-355-01759-6 .

Web links

• Matthias Wiegand in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• World cycling championships in team pursuit

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Neues Deutschland , August 22, 1980, p. 4
2. ^ German Cycling Association of the GDR (ed.): The cyclist . No. 32/1972 . Berlin 1972, p. 2 .
3. ^ GDR championships in cyclo-cross country
4. ^ GDR championships in pursuit