Reiner Kurth

East Germans Reiner Kurth and Alexander Slatnow were the reigning World Champions in the K-2 1,000 metres flatwater canoeing of 1971 when they travelled to the Summer Games in München in 1972. Both then finished a disappointing fourth in the final. Domestically, he won the youth K-1 and K-2 1,000 metres titles in 1969, winning the K-1 title again in 1970.

Kurth later worked as a shop fitter in the airship hangar in Potsdam which was rebuilt as an athletic training hall. In 2010 this training facility was closed and he worked for two years as an employee in a Potsdam museum. His grand-nephew Elias also became a flatwater canoeist.