Heinz-Ulrich Walther (born 11 March 1943) is a German former

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

who represented

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and 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 ...

in competition. With

Heidemarie Steiner Heidemarie Steiner married Walther, (born 9 May 1944 in Kolberg, Province of Pomerania (1815–1945), Province of Pomerania) is a German figure skating coach and former competitor. She competed in pair skating and ladies singles. Steiner began ...

, he is the 1970 World bronze medalist and a three-time

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bronze medalist (1967–68, 1970). Walther competed at two Winter Olympics, placing 11th in 1964 with Brigitte Wokoeck and fourth with Steiner in 1968.

Skating career

Heinz-Ulrich Walther teamed up with Brigitte Wokoeck around 1959 and represented the club SC Dynamo Berlin. The pair won the 1963

Blue Swords Blue Swords () is an international figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union. It is usually held in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of Single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair ...

and two East German national titles, in 1962 and 1964. Representing the

, they placed 11th at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 (), were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964. The city was a ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

. It was their final competition together. Walther formed a partnership with

by around 1965. Coached by Heinz-Friedrich Lindner, they represented SC Dynamo Berlin. The pair won the bronze medal at the 1967 European Championships in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

and repeated the following year at the 1968 European Championships in

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

. They were selected to represent East Germany at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. The 1968 Winter Games marked the first time ...

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

and placed fourth. After obtaining their third European bronze medal at the 1970 European Championships in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, the pair concluded their competitive career with a World bronze medal, at the 1970 World Championships in Ljubljana. Walther has worked as an international figure skating judge and ISU technical controller for pair skating.

Personal life

Walther married Heidemarie Steiner in 1969. He studied medicine and worked at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine; ) is Europe's List of hospitals by capacity, largest university hospital, affiliated with Humboldt University of Berlin, Humboldt University and the Free ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He was an academic employee in the

orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

department at the Center for Complementary Medicine Research – CCM.

Competitive highlights

With Steiner

With Wokoeck

References

* * personal interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Heinz-Ulrich 1943 births Living people People from Stendal Sportspeople from the Province of Saxony German male pair skaters Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for East Germany East German male figure skaters Olympic figure skaters for the United Team of Germany Figure skating judges World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Saxony-Anhalt Sportspeople from Bezirk Magdeburg SC Dynamo Berlin sportspeople