Walter Hofmann (canoeist)

Walter Hofmann (born September 26, 1949 in Sömmerda ) is a former German canoeist . He was Olympic champion in canoe slalom in 1972 .

Hofmann learned to canoe on the Unstrut . In 1967 he moved to Leipzig to ASK Vorwärts Leipzig . He won his first GDR championship title in the two-man canoe with Rolf-Dieter Amend in 1969 , and Amend and Hofmann also won in 1972 and 1975. In 1971 the two took second place behind Klaus Trummer and Jürgen Kretschmer . At the Canoe Slalom World Championships in Merano in 1971, Trummer / Kretschmer won ahead of Amend / Hofmann and the third GDR boat with Uwe Franz and Ulrich Opelt; the GDR drivers also won the team world championship.

At the 1972 Olympic Games , Olympic canoe slalom competitions were held for the first time. On the Augsburg ice canal, Amendt and Hofmann won ahead of Hans-Otto Schumacher and Wilhelm Baues from the Federal Republic of Germany and the French brothers Olry, Trummer and Kretschmer took fourth place. After finishing fourth at the 1975 World Cup, Amend ended his career.

In 1976 Hofmann won his fourth GDR championship title, this time together with Jürgen Kalbitz . In 1977 the two canoeists won the world championship at the World Championships in Spittal.

Awards (selection)

• 1972: Patriotic Order of Merit in silver

literature

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

Web links

• Walter Hofmann in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• GDR championships canoe slalom two-man canoe