Gerd Völs was a member of the German bronze medal-winning coxed eights at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The three leading boats, USA, Italy and Germany crossed the line virtually together with just one second separating first from third, but victory went to the USA, with Italy second. The Nazi leaders were not amused and left immediately.
The same year the boat from RG Wiking Berlin won the German Championships and Völs also was runner-up with Herbert Schmidt, Hans-Joachim Hannemann and Werner Loeckle in the coxless fours. The next year they came third. In 1942, Völs was the German coxless fours champion. After World War II Völs became a building contractor in Hannover.
Germany