Athletes from East Germany (German Democratic Republic, called DDR in the opening ceremony) competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 297 competitors, 231 men and 66 women, took part in 161 events in 18 sports.
Medalists Gold Peter Frenkel — Athletics, Men's 20 km Walk Wolfgang Nordwig — Athletics, Men's Pole Vault Renate Stecher — Athletics, Women's 100 metres Renate Stecher — Athletics, Women's 200 metres Monika Zehrt — Athletics, Women's 400 metres Annelie Ehrhardt — Athletics, Women's 100 m Hurdles Monika Zehrt, Dagmar Käsling, Rita Kühne, and Helga Seidler — Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m Relay Ruth Fuchs — Athletics, Women's Javelin Throw Siegbert Horn — Canoeing, Men's K1 Kayak Slalom Singles Reinhard Eiben — Canoeing, Men's C1 Canadian Slalom Singles Rolf-Dieter Amend and Walter Hofmann — Canoeing, Men's C2 Canadian Slalom Pairs Angelika Bahmann — Canoeing, Women's K1 Kayak Slalom Singles Klaus Köste — Gymnastics, Men's Long Horse Vault Karin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Side Horse Vault Karin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Asymmetrical Bars Siegfried Brietzke and Wolfgang Mager — Rowing, Men's Coxless Pairs Wolfgang Gunkel, Jörg Lucke, and Klaus-Dieter Neubert — Rowing, Men's Coxed Pairs Dieter Schubert, Frank Forberger, Dieter Grahn and Frank Rühle — Rowing, Men's Coxless Fours Roland Matthes — Swimming, Men's 100 m Backstroke Roland Matthes — Swimming, Men's 200 m Backstroke
Silver Stefan Junge — Athletics, Men's High Jump Jörg Drehmel — Athletics, Men's triple jump Jochen Sachse — Athletics, Men's Hammer Throw Gunhild Hoffmeister — Athletics, Women's 1500 metres Bärbel Struppert, Christina Heinich, Evelin Kaufer, and Renate Stecher — Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m Relay Margitta Gummel-Helmboldt — Athletics, Women's Shot Put Jacqueline Todten — Athletics, Women's Javelin Throw Petra Grabowski and Ilse Kaschube — Canoeing, Women's K2 500 m Kayak Pairs Uwe Unterwalder, Thomas Huschke, Heinz Richter, and Herbert Richter — Cycling, Men's 4000 m Team Pursuit Jürgen Geschke and Werner Otto — Cycling, Men's 2000 m Tandem Karin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's All-Around Individual Erika Zuchold — Gymnastics, Women's Side Horse Vault Erika Zuchold — Gymnastics, Women's Asymmetrical Bars Erika Zuchold, Richarda Schmeißer, Christine Schmitt, Irene Abel, Angelika Hellmann, and Karin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Team Combined Exercises Eckhard Martens, Dietrich Zander, Reinhard Gust, Rolf Jobst, and Klaus-Dieter Ludwig — Rowing, Men's Coxed Fours Roland Matthes, Klaus Katzur, Hartmut Flöckner, and Lutz Unger — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay Roswitha Beier — Swimming, Women's 100 m Butterfly Kornelia Ender — Swimming, Women's 200 m Individual Medley Gabriele Wetzko, Andrea Eife, Kornelia Ender, and Elke Sehmisch — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay Christine Herbst, Renate Vogel, Roswitha Beier, and Kornelia Ender — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay Rainer Tscharke, Wolfgang Webner, Wolfgang Weise, Siegfried Schneider, Arnold Schulz, Rudi Schumann, Jürgen Maune, Horst Peter, Eckehard Pietzsch, Horst Hagen, Wolfgang Löwe, and Wolfgang Maibohm — Volleyball, Men's Team Competition Heinz-Helmut Wehling — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman Featherweight Paul Borowski, Karl-Heinz Thun and Konrad Weichert — Sailing, Men's Dragon Class
Bronze Hans-Georg Reimann — Athletics, Men's 20 km Walk Hartmut Briesenick — Athletics, Men's Shot Put Gunhild Hoffmeister — Athletics, Women's 800 metres Karin Balzer — Athletics, Women's 100 m Hurdles Burglinde Pollak — Athletics, Women's Pentathlon Peter Tiepold — Boxing, Men's Light Middleweight Marina Janicke — Diving, Women's 3 m Springboard Marina Janicke — Diving, Women's 10 m Platform Harald Gimpel — Canoeing, Men's K1 Kayak Slalom Singles Jürgen Schütze — Cycling, Men's 1000 m Time Trial Jürgen Paeke, Reinhard Rychly, Wolfgang Thüne, Matthias Brehme, Wolfgang Klotz, and Klaus Köste — Gymnastics, Men's Team Combined Exercises 559.70 Karin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Balance Beam Dietmar Hötger — Judo, Men's Half Middleweight (70 kg) Wolfgang Güldenpfennig — Rowing, Men's Single Sculls Joachim Böhmer and Hans-Ullrich Schmied — Rowing, Men's Double Sculls Manfred Schneider, Hartmut Schreiber, Dietmar Schwarz, Jörg Landvoigt, Heinrich Mederow, Manfred Schmorde, Hans-Joachim Borzym, Harold Dimke, and Bernd Landvoigt — Rowing, Men's Rowing Eights Werner Lippoldt — Shooting, Men's Small-bore Rifle, Three Positions Michael Buchheim — Shooting, Men's Skeet Shooting Konrad Weise, Manfred Zapf, Joachim Streich, Eberhard Vogel, Siegmar Wätzlich, Ralf Schulenberg, Wolfgang Seguin, Jürgen Sparwasser, Hans-Jürgen Kreische, Lothar Kurbjuweit, Jürgen Pommerenke, Frank Ganzera, Reinhard Häfner, Harald Irmscher, Bernd Bransch, Jürgen Croy, and Peter Ducke — Football (soccer), Men's Team Competition Lutz Unger, Peter Bruch, Wilfried Hartung, and Roland Matthes — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay Gudrun Wegner — Swimming, Women's 400 m Freestyle Stefan Grützner — Weightlifting, Men's Heavyweight Gerd Bonk — Weightlifting, Men's Super Heavyweight
Athletics
Men's 800 metres Dieter Fromm Heat — 1:46.9 Semifinals — 1:48.1 Final — 1:48.0 (→ 8th place)
Men's 1500 metres Klaus-Peter Justus Heat — 3:40.4 Semifinals — 3:44.6 (→ did not advance)
Men's 4 × 100 m Relay Manfred Kokot, Bernd Borth, Hans-Jörgen Bombach, and Siegfried Schenke Heat — 39.17s Semifinals — 39.06s Final — 38.90s (→ 5th place)
Men's High Jump Stefan Junge Qualifying Round — 2.15m Final — 2.21m (→ Silver Medal)
Boxing
Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg) Peter Tiepold → Bronze Medal First Round — Bye Second Round — Defeated Ion Györfi (ROM), 4:1 Third Round — Defeated Mikko Saarinen (FIN), 5:0 Quarterfinals — Defeated Emeterio Villanueva (MEX), 5:0 Semifinals — Lost to Wiesław Rudkowski (POL), 1:4
Men's Heavyweight (+ 81 kg) Jürgen Fanghänel First Round — Defeated Atanas Suvandzhiev (BUL), KO-1 Quarterfinals — Lost to Ion Alexe (ROM), 0:5
Canoeing
Slalom AthleteEventPreliminaryFinalRun 1RankRun 2RankBestRankReinhard EibenMen's C-1327.501315.841315.84Jochen Förster354.423365.455354.424Jürgen Köhler372.884447.7013372.886Walter HofmannRolf-Dieter Amend Men's C-2310.681445.5115310.68Jürgen KretschmerKlaus Trummer329.573DNF329.574Jürgen HenzeHerbert FischerDNF508.4418508.4418Jürgen BremerMen's K-1408.5024303.157303.158Harald Gimpel298.115277.952277.95Siegbert Horn363.2017268.561268.56Angelika BahmannWomen's K-1413.072364.501364.50Sybille Bödecker482.888526.1010482.8811Martina Falke482.207DNF482.2010
Sprint Men AthleteEventHeatsRepechagesSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankDirk WeiseC-1 1000 m4:41.043 Qcolspan=2 colspan=2 4:14.384Dirk WeiseDieter LichtenbergC-2 1000 m4:12.953 Qcolspan=2 3:52.661 Q4:01.507Joachim MatternK-1 1000 m4:02.882 Qcolspan=2 3:54.243 Q3:51.946Reiner KurthAlexander SlatnowK-2 1000 m3:46.051 Qcolspan=2 3:32.821 Q3:34.164Volkmar ThiedeEduard AugustinHerbert LaabsJoachim MatternK-4 1000 m3:18.652 Qcolspan=2 3:11.654Did not advance
Women AthleteEventHeatsRepechagesSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankBettina MüllerK-1 500 m2:15.154 q2:08.921 Q2:07.903 Q2:06.855Ilse KaschubePetra GrabowskiK-2 500 m2:00.962 Qcolspan=2 colspan=2 1:54.30
Cycling
Eleven cyclists represented East Germany in 1972.
Road AthleteEventTimeRankDieter GonschorekMen's road raceDNFWolfram KühnDNFKarl-Heinz Oberfranz4:17:3630Wolfgang Wesemann4:17:3633
Track 1000 m time trial AthleteEventTimeRank Jürgen SchützeMen's 1000 m time trial1:07.02
Men's Sprint AthleteEventHeatsRepechage 1Round 2Repechage 2Round 3Repechage 3Repechage FinalsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)Rank Hans-Jürgen GeschkeMen's sprintW 11.52colspan=1 W 11.53colspan=1 W 11.42colspan=2 L 1:2 11.63Did not advance5 Werner OttoLLDid not advance
Pursuit AthleteEventQualificationQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankOppositionTimeOppositionTimeOppositionTimeRankThomas HuschkeMen's individual pursuit4:57.959Did not advance9Thomas HuschkeHeinz RichterHerbert RichterUwe UnterwalderTeam pursuit4:25.482 QW 4:23.26W 4:23.14L 4:25.25
Men's Tandem AthleteEventHeatsRepechageRepechage FinalsQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)Rank Jürgen GeschkeWerner OttoTandemW 11.66colspan=2 W 2:0 (10.75; 10.80)W 2:0 (10:45; 10:91)L 1:2 (10.68)
Diving
Men AthleteEventPreliminariesFinalPointsRankPointsRankTotalRankFalk Hoffmann3 m springboard384.455 Q160.5011544.95710 m platform291.548 Q145.1710436.7110Lothar Matthes298.416 Q167.343465.754Wolfram Ristau268.5923Did not advanceHelge Ziethen3 m springboard364.028 Q147.0012511.0212
Women AthleteEventPreliminariesFinalPointsRankPointsRankTotalRankHeidi Becker3 m springboard281.584 Q124.2010405.789Sylvia Fiedler10 m platform206.074 Q135.608341.676Marina Janicke3 m springboard273.488 Q157.442430.9210 m platform206.733 Q153.812360.54Christa Köhler3 m springboard278.885 Q115.3212394.2011
Equestrian
Dressage AthleteHorseEventQualificationFinalOverallScoreRankScoreRankScoreRankGerhard BrockmüllerMariosIndividual154513Did not advanceHorst KöhlerImanuel148617Did not advanceWolfgang MüllerSemafor152116Did not advanceGerhard BrockmüllerHorst KöhlerWolfgang MüllerSee aboveTeam45525colspan=2 45525
Eventing AthleteHorseEventDressageCross-countryJumpingTotalFinalPenaltiesRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesTotalRankPenaltiesRankRudolf BeerbohmIngolfIndividual71.006474.803.80150.003.8013.8011Joachim BrohmannUranio51.331971,7371.73470.0071.73171.7325Helmut GillePflicht69.005834.8034.203240.0074.204074.2026Jens NiehlsBig-Ben84.007034.0050.003910.0060.001660.0023Rudolf BeerbohmJoachim BrohmannHelmut GilleJens NiehlsSee aboveTeam191.3315143.6080.40510.00127.932127.935
Fencing
Five fencers, all men, represented East Germany in 1972.
Men's épée Horst Melzig Bernd Uhlig Hans-Peter Schulze
Men's team épée Harry Fiedler, Eckhard Mannischeff, Horst Melzig, Hans-Peter Schulze, Bernd Uhlig
Football
First round Group D
Second round Group 1
Bronze Medal match
Bronze medals shared.
Gymnastics
Handball
Men's Team Competition As expected, the East Germans dominated the first round, defeating Iceland, Tunisia, and Czechoslovakia in turn to win their division. The second round began with a loss to the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia's wins over the Soviet Union and Sweden meant that the East Germans had to defeat Sweden as well just to tie the Czechoslovak team in the standings, which they did. However, the tie-breaker went against the East Germans and they placed second in the division. They played the other division's second place team, Romania in the bronze medal game and lost, receiving fourth place.
Preliminary Round (Group B) East Germany – Iceland 16-11 (7-6) East Germany – Tunisia 21-9 (11-2) East Germany – Czechoslovakia 14-12 (5-4) Second Round (Group A) East Germany – Soviet Union 8-11 (4-4) East Germany – Sweden 14-11 (8-6) Bronze Medal Game East Germany – Romania 16-19 (8-11) → 4th place Team Roster Harry Zörnack Horst Jankhöfer Josef Rose Jürgen Hildebrand Klaus Langhoff Klaus Weiß Peter Larisch Peter Randt Rainer Würdig Rainer Zimmermann Reiner Frieske Reiner Ganschow Siegfried Voigt Udo Röhrig Wolfgang Böhme Wolfgang Lakenmacher
Judo
Rowing
Men's single sculls Wolfgang Güldenpfennig Heat — 7:46.31 Repechage — 8:05.19 Semi Finals — 8:16.35 Final — 7:14.45 (→ Bronze medal)
Men's double sculls Joachim Böhmer Uli Schmied
Men's coxless pair Siegfried Brietzke Wolfgang Mager
Men's coxed pair Wolfgang Gunkel, Jörg Lucke and Klaus-Dieter Neubert Heat — 7:54.11 Semi Finals — 8:13.87 Final — 7:17.25 (→ Gold medal)
Men's coxless four Frank Forberger