Alexander von der Groeben

Alexander von der Groeben was a West German heavyweight judoka who participated in both the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Olympics but did not reach the final rounds. Internationally, he won a bronze medal at the 1989 World Championships in the open class. At the European Championships he won gold medals in 1984 (heavyweight) and 1985 (open class), silver medals in 1985 and 1988 (heavyweight on both occasions) and bronze medals in 1981, 1983, 1987 (all heavyweight), and 1990 (open class). With his home club VfL Wolfsburg he also won the European Cup from 1979-81. Von der Groeben won the German team titles with Wolfsburg 1986-87, 1989-90. He also won six individual German titles (1981, 1983-85, 1988-89) and seven international German titles (1980-82, 1984-85, 1988-89).

After his active career, von der Groeben became a sports commentator, like his wife Ulrike, with the TV channels Premiere, SAT.1, Eurosport and ZDF. He mostly commented on boxing, judo and sumo. From the 1990s, he also worked as an actor in daily soaps and on stages. His children Maximilian and Carolin also became actors.