Rolf Oesterreich (figure skater)

Rolf Austria
nation	German Democratic Republic
birthday	November 28, 1952
place of birth	Rostock
size	184 cm
Weight	75 kg
Career
discipline	Pair skating
Partner	Marlies Radunsky, Romy Kermer
society	SC Dynamo Berlin
Trainer	Heidemarie Walther
status	resigned
End of career	1976
Medal table
Olympic medals 0 × 1 × 0 × World Cup medals 0 × 2 × 1 × EM medals 0 × 3 × 0 ×
winter Olympics silver Innsbruck 1976 Couples  World figure skating championships bronze Munich 1974 Couples silver Colorado Springs 1975 Couples silver Gothenburg 1976 Couples  European figure skating championships silver Zagreb 1974 Couples silver Copenhagen 1975 Couples silver Geneva 1976 Couples

Rolf Oesterreich (born November 28, 1952 in Rostock ) is a former German figure skater who started pair skating for the GDR .

Athletic career

Rolf Austria started figure skating in Berlin . He initially competed in pair skating with Marlies Radunsky . With her he was third in the GDR championships in 1971 and 1972 behind Manuela Groß and Uwe Kagelmann as well as Anette Kansy and Axel Salzmann . They took part in European championships during this period and finished sixth and seventh respectively .

In 1972 Austria changed partners and ran from then on with Romy Kermer . He started for SC Dynamo Berlin and trained there with Heidemarie Steiner-Walther .

At the side of Romy Kermer he immediately became GDR champion in 1973 in the absence of Groß / Kagelmann . In their European championship debut in Cologne , Austria and Kermer took sixth place and in their world championship debut in Bratislava fifth place. In 1974 they won their first international medals. In Zagreb they became vice-European champions behind Irina Rodnina and Alexander Saizew and surprisingly beat Lyudmila Smirnowa and Alexei Ulanow from the Soviet Union as well as the reigning GDR champions Groß and Kagelmann. At the World Championships in Munich they had to admit defeat to Smirnowa and Ulanow, but again stayed ahead of their compatriots and thus won the bronze medal. In 1975 Rolf Oesterreich and Romy Kermer became GDR champions for the first time in the presence of Groß and Kagelmann. They defended the title a year later. At the European Championships in Copenhagen in 1975 as well as in the 1975 World Championships in Colorado Springs , they won the silver medal behind Rodnina and Saizew. Silver was also the color for Austria and Kermer in the last year of their careers, 1976. Both at the European Championships in Geneva as well as at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck and the World Championships in Gothenburg they only had to defeat the outstanding couple Rodnina / Saizew from the Soviet Union give.

In 1976, Rolf Oesterreich was tested positive for anabolic steroids at a central exit control of the GDR and was only allowed to travel to the Olympic Games in Innsbruck when no more prohibited substances could be detected.

Romy Kermer and Rolf Oesterreich got married after their active figure skating time. Austria became a trainer, among others at TuS Stuttgart . From 2012 to 2015 he trained the junior runners at ERC Ingolstadt . With the 2015/16 season he switched to EV Dornbirn.

Austria and Kermer, 1972

Austria and Kermer at the GDR championships in 1975

Results

Pair skating

(until 1972 with Marlies Radunsky , from 1973 with Romy Kermer )

Competition / year	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976
winter Olympics						2.
World championships			5.	3.	2.	2.
European championships	6th	7th	6th	2.	2.	2.
GDR championships	3.	3.	1.	2.	1.	1.

Web links

Commons : Rolf Oesterreich  - Collection of images

• Rolf Oesterreich in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Shadows on the Ice
2. ↑ A bitter blue pill
3. ↑ Training plan of the ERC Ingolstadt (PDF; 366 kB), accessed on October 21, 2013
4. ↑ New season - new trainer ( Memento of the original from August 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.