Rower Friedrich-Wilhelm Ulrich won consecutive gold medals at the 1976 Montréal and 1980 Moskva Olympics with the East German coxed pairs, partnering Georg Spohr and Harald Jährling. The same crew also won silver at the 1977 World Championships, and in 1977 and 1979, they won the East German nationals. Ulrich burst into the scene in 1971 when he won the Youth World Championships with the coxed pairs. He then moved to the eights and won the East German title from 1973-75. He also won the European Championships in 1973, and the Worlds in 1975 and 1978-79.
Ulrich studied sports at the DHfK Leipzig, and became a rowing coach at his home club SC Magdeburg. Shortly before re-unification, he fled to West Germany and became regional coach of Saarland. Later he led the sports school of Koblenz.
East Germany