Uwe Beyer (14 April 1945 – 15 April 1993) was a West German

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

er. He competed at the 1964, 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won the bronze medal in 1964, representing the

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany () was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympic Games, Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes from a third ...

, and later finished fourth in 1972 representing West Germany. He won the European title in 1971 and finished third in 1966 and fifth in 1974. Domestically Beyer won eight consecutive German titles in 1964–71, and received the

Silbernes Lorbeerblatt Silbernes Lorbeerblatt (, ), the highest sports award in Germany, was endowed on 23 June 1950 by the German President Theodor Heuss. It is awarded to athletes and teams of exemplary character that have won medals at Olympic and Paralympic Games ...

in 1964. He also starred as Siegfried in ''

Die Nibelungen ''Die Nibelungen'' ("The Nibelungs") is a two-part German series of Silent film, silent fantasy films created by Austrian director Fritz Lang in 1924, consisting of ''Die Nibelungen: Siegfried'' and ''Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge''. Th ...

''. Beyer had a degree in physical education and in retirement ran a sports store in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. His father Erich competed nationally in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

.Uwe Beyer
sports-reference.com Beyer suffered a fatal heart attack while playing tennis in the Turkish beach resort of

Belek Belek is a neighbourhood in the Serik district in Turkey's Antalya Province. As of 2022, it had a population of 9,102. Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganization, it was a town (''Belde''). Belek is one of the centers of Turkey' ...

, possibly as a delayed result of the use of

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...

s throughout his career, to which he freely admitted in a 1977 interview in the "Aktuelles Sportstudio" on

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

References

1945 births 1993 deaths German male hammer throwers West German male hammer throwers Olympic athletes for the United Team of Germany Olympic athletes for West Germany Olympic bronze medalists for the United Team of Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Doping cases in athletics German sportspeople in doping cases Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games bronze medalists for West Germany Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Athletes from Schleswig-Holstein 20th-century German sportsmen West German Athletics Championships winners {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub