Rüdiger Reiche

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Rüdiger Reiche, 1972

Rüdiger Reiche (born March 27, 1955 in Querfurt ) is a former rower from the German Democratic Republic . In 1976 he won the Olympics in a double foursome.

Career

The tall, rich man started out in athletics, where he had good approaches in the shot put and discus throw. The talent scouts from SC Chemie Halle recruited him as a basketball player in 1970, but after a short time he was training in a rowboat under coach Eberhard Mund. In 1973 he finished second in the single at the Junior World Championships . When the double foursome was held for the first time at the 1974 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, the GDR boat won the title with Joachim Dreifke , Götz Draeger , Rüdiger Reiche and Jürgen Bertow . At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, the quadruple scull had its Olympic premiere. The GDR boat with Wolfgang Güldenpfennig , Rüdiger Reiche, Karl-Heinz Bußert and Michael Wolfgramm won the Olympic gold medal with one second ahead of the boat from the Soviet Union. For this success he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver.

In 1977 Reiche switched to the double scull and together with Hans-Ulrich Schmied achieved the silver medal behind the British at the World Championships in Amsterdam. In 1978 and 1979 Reiche won the GDR championships in one, in 1979 he received bronze at the world championships behind Pertti Karppinen and Peter-Michael Kolbe . 1980 Reiche had the only weak year of his career, he missed the Olympic qualification. Although he went to Moscow as a substitute rower, he was never used. In 1980 Reiche moved from Halle to SG Dynamo Potsdam and to coach Dieter Öhm. In 1981 he finished second behind Peter-Michael Kolbe at the World Championships in Munich. The following year, Reiche won his only single world championship in Lucerne. In 1983 he lost to Uwe Mund , the son of his former coach, at the GDR championships . Then Reiche switched back to the double fours after seven years. Together with Karl-Heinz Bußert, Martin Winter and Joachim Dreifke, he lost to the boat from the Federal Republic of Germany at the World Championships in Duisburg. Dreifke and Reiche had been there for the first big international victory of the GDR double foursome, Bußert and, with the exception of 1979, Winter had rowed in the world championship titles from 1977 to 1982, now these four rowers experienced the first final defeat of the GDR double foursome at international championships. The world championship boat from the Federal Republic also won Olympic gold in 1984 in the absence of the GDR rowers.

The 1.98 m tall Rüdiger Reiche ended his career with two GDR championship titles in 1984 in singles and, together with Bußert, in doubles. He then worked as a qualified sports teacher at SG Dynamo Potsdam. In 1986 he was honored with the medal Star of Friendship of Nations in silver. After the fall of the Wall he was an insurance agent.

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 , page 311.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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).
  2. ↑ Neues Deutschland, October 15, 1986, p. 7

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rich, Rudiger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Olympic champion in rowing
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Querfurt