Wolfgang Mager

The DHfK four-man 1974 from left to right: Trainer Jörg Weissig, Brietzke , Decker , Mager, Semmler and in the front helmsman Lehmann

Wolfgang Mager (born August 24, 1952 in Kamenz ) is a former rower from the GDR. He won two Olympic gold medals.

Skinny grew up in Reichenbach . In 1967 Mager was one of a group of 123 young people who responded to Heinz Quermann's appeal in the Christmas program Between Breakfast and Roast Goose , where tall children were asked to report to the rowing section in Leipzig. When SC DHfK Leipzig 25 talents were selected and trained. Mager won with Siegfried Brietzke, who was also selected on the show, and helmsman Werner Lehmann in 1970 at the Spartakiade and the youth world championships. At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Brietzke and Mager won in two without a helmsman with almost four seconds ahead of the boat from Switzerland. In 1973, the two GDR champions, but at the European championships, the two only took fourth place. Then both switched to the four without a helmsman . From 1974 the Leipzig four-man dominated this boat class with the line-up Siegfried Brietzke, Andreas Decker , Stefan Semmler and Wolfgang Mager. The four rowers became world champions in Lucerne in 1974 and in Nottingham in 1975, and Olympic champions in Montreal in 1976 . In 1977 in Amsterdam and 1979 in Bled the boat was again world champion, only in 1978 in New Zealand was the Soviet boat defeated and won silver. In the 1980 Olympic season, Mager injured his hand and was represented by Jürgen Thiele , without Mager the boat became Olympic champion for the second time.

After his career, the qualified sports teacher Mager worked as a sports teacher at the officers' school of the air force of the GDR in Kamenz.

Awards (selection)

• 1972 - Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver
• 1974 - Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze
• 1976 - Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold

literature

• Volker Kluge : The great lexicon of GDR athletes. The 1000 most successful and popular athletes from the GDR, their successes and biographies. Schwarzkopf and Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-348-9 .
• Volker Kluge: Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle III. Mexico City 1968 - Los Angeles 1984. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-328-00741-5 .

Web links

Commons : Wolfgang Mager  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Wolfgang Mager in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
• German success at rowing world championships

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About the honor for the Olympic team of the GDR. Awarded high government awards. Patriotic Order of Merit in Gold. In: New Germany . ZEFYS newspaper portal of the Berlin State Library , September 10, 1976, p. 4 , accessed on April 10, 2018 (free registration required).