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The former national canoe trainer Rolf-Dieter Amend
Photo: IMAGO
German canoeing mourns the loss of the Olympic champion and former national coach Rolf-Dieter Amend.
The 72-year-old, who won Olympic gold in a two-man canoe with Walter Hofmann in Munich in 1972, died on January 4th at the age of 72 in Potsdam.
In 1975 Amend had ended his active career and was henceforth active as a trainer for the German Canoe Association.
In 1991 he took over the post of national coach, the athletes he trained won a total of eight medals at the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008, five of which were gold.
Olympic champion Ronald Rauhe was deeply affected by the news of his death: “The death of Amend touched us deeply in Potsdam.
I owe him a lot.
Without him, my sporting career would certainly have been very different.
My thoughts are with his family. "
aha / sid