Ingo Steuer

Ingo Steuer started his pairs career with the non-Olympian Manuela Landgraf, and they won the 1984 World Juniors together, and were eighth at the 1985 World Championships (seniors). He then skated briefly with the non-Olympian Ines Müller, but she retired after the 1990-91 season and Steuer spent a year without a partner before he and Mandy Wötzel joined forces. Steuer and Wötzel won the bronze medal in 1998 at Nagano, and won the 1997 World Championships, after having been runners-up in 1996.

They also earned gold medals at the 1995 European Championships, were runners-up in 1993, 1996 and 1997, and won German Championships in 1993, and 1995-97. Their best season was likely 1996-97 when they won, in addition to the Worlds and German titles, the Champion Series Final, Skate Canada, the Russian Cup, and the Nations Cup. They retired from Olympic-style competition after the Nagano Olympics and skated in shows and professional events.

After his retirement from skating, Steuer began a coaching career, mainly with pairs skaters, based in Chemnitz. His best known students have been four-time World Champions Aljona Sawtchenko and Robin Szolkowy. But Steuer has been a controversial figure in Germany because he has been found to have been a former Stasi informant in the old GDR. He has been denied German accreditation, excluded from the German team, and not allowed to wear German team uniforms at some events, and this has led to several lawsuits on Steuer’s part, several of which he has won.