Heinz Richter

Cyclist Heinz Richter was a member of the East German track pursuit team that was eliminated in the qualifying round at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. He also finished tenth in the 1 km time trial. Four years later in München, he won a silver medal in the team pursuit after being easily beaten West Germany in the final. It was a similar story in that year’s World Championships at Leicester, when the West Germans again won and, in 1971, the East German team were again defeated as finalists, but this time by Italy.

Richter played ice hockey in his youth before moving to cycling. In both 1967 and 1968 he won three East German cycling titles: the 1 km track time trial, the single pursuit and the team pursuit. In 1969 he won the time trial and pursuit for a third consecutive year. Richter then won national Madison titles with Thomas Huschke in 1970-72, and in 1973 with Manfred Ulbricht.

Richter was a trained metal fitter, but later joined the National Peoples’ Army as a cycling coach. After German re-unification, he opened a cycling shop at Bergen (Rügen). He was also employed as a paramedic and emergency driver for many years.