Rudolf Karsch

Rudolf Karsch (born December 26, 1913 in Leipzig , † December 11, 1950 in Erfurt ) was a German racing cyclist . In 1936 he won an Olympic bronze medal in the 1000 meter time trial .

Karsch started for the RC Wettiner in Leipzig and trained with Joseph Weyand. In 1931 he decided to switch from the road to the train. From 1933 (in September he fought his first international match in Chemnitz ) until 1939 he was a member of Germany's national track cycling team . In 1934 he won the national tandem championship with Ernst Ihbe (with whom he happened to come across the tandem because Ihbe was without a partner for a short time) . In 1937 they both won the title again, although Karsch had previously ridden successfully with Heinz Hasselberg on the tandem. Behind Hasselberg, he also finished second in the time trial championship.

At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin , he finished third in 1: 13.2 minutes behind the Dutchman Arie van Vliet and the Frenchman Pierre Georget ; Karsch was the first German Olympic medalist in the time trial. His trainer Joseph Weyand (a former road rider) had convinced him to specialize in this route, as he saw good opportunities for an Olympic start here. Up until the Olympics, Karsch had won all competitions in Germany that season over this distance. With the demolition of the Leipzig cycling track in 1938, Karsch's training opportunities were significantly limited. After a serious fall in Riesa in 1939, he interrupted his career.

In 1950 Karsch tried a comeback as a train driver in the BSG Stahl Südwest Leipzig. Karsch died under unexplained circumstances in December of the same year when gas leaked in his apartment.

Professional

Karsch, a trained machine master, was most recently employed by the City Council of Leipzig.

Web links

Rudolf Karsch in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Association of German Cyclists (ed.): Cycling . No. 52/1950 . German sports publisher Kurt Stoof, Cologne 1950, p. 14 .
↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle I. Athens 1896 - Berlin 1936. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00715-6 , pp. 903-904 (note 268).
^ General Secretariat of the Cycling Section of the GDR (ed.): Illustrated Radrennsport . No. 25/1950 . Sportverlag, Berlin, p. 7 .

personal data
SURNAME	Karsch, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German racing cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH	December 26, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH	Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH	December 11, 1950
Place of death	Erfurt

[:0-1] Association of German Cyclists (ed.): Cycling . No. 52/1950 . German sports publisher Kurt Stoof, Cologne 1950, p. 14 .

[2] Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle I. Athens 1896 - Berlin 1936. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-328-00715-6 , pp. 903-904 (note 268).

[3] General Secretariat of the Cycling Section of the GDR (ed.): Illustrated Radrennsport . No. 25/1950 . Sportverlag, Berlin, p. 7 .