Werner Malitz

Werner Malitz began his cycling career in the 1940s, and was runner-up at the 1943 German track nationals in the sprint. Malitz was captured by the French during World War II and only released after the end of the war. In the 1950s Malitz became a successful cyclist, both on the road and track. He won five East German national titles on the track and won the 1957 Tour of Egypt.

In 1956, at the Olympic Games in Melbourne, he was part of the unified German pursuit team, together with Manfred Gieseler from West Germany and the East Germans Siegfried Köhler and Rolf Nitzsche. They lost their first round match against Great Britain by a wide margin. The lap scorer miscounted the laps and sounded the bell a lap too late, so no finishing sprint times were measured.

After his active career Malitz became a cycling coach for different clubs in East Germany and a national coach for tandem and sprint. He retired early at the time of German reunification. He later supported young cyclists for many years as an advisor. He died in 2017 at the age of 90 in a Berlin nursing home.