Steffen Thierfelder won the sprint title at the Junior World Championships in 1974 and, with Jürgen Grundler and Veit Schirmer, came second behind the Finnish team in the GDR relay. The gold medal in the sprint was the first to be awarded over this distance at the Junior World Championships. In 1974 he won the title of GDR champion with the relay, in 1977 and 1978 he was third in this competition, as well as in 1977 in the sprint competition. After his active career, Thierfeld became a trainer and looked after André Sehmisch and Raik Dittrich , among others . As a representative of the Olympiastützpunkt Chemnitz , Thierfelder was involved in a project at the University of Leipzig to improve training methods in biathlon at the beginning of the 2000s . He is also the organizer of sports trips in the Eastern Ore Mountains. In 1988 he was awarded the Order Banner of Labor Level I in the GDR .
German Democratic Republic
