Klaus Riekemann (born 19 May 1940) is a

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who competed for 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 ...

as a West German in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. He was born in

Dorsten Dorsten (; Westphalian: ''Dössen'') is a town in the district of Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of about 75,000. Dorsten is situated on the western rim of Westphalia bordering the Rhineland. Its histori ...

, though he lived most of his life in

Marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

, before moving around Europe and America. In the coxed pair, he was European champion in both 1958 and 1959. He was a crew member of the German boat which won the gold medal in the coxed four event at the

. It was after this event that Riekemann made it into the newspapers due to an unfortunate accident. Whilst warming down after his event, he was jumping on a trampoline and misjudged his landing and badly shattered his ankle. His recuperation took a while at an Italian hospital near to

Lake Como Lake Como ( , ) also known as Lario, is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the third-largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore. At over deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe. ...

where the regatta took place. He rowed at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. At the 1961 European Rowing Championships, he won a bronze medal in the coxless four. He was also present in the east side of Berlin at the building of the Berlin Wall. His daughter Hannah was married in Prior Park in Bath in August 2024.

References

1940 births Living people Olympic rowers for the United Team of Germany Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United Team of Germany Olympic medalists in rowing West German male rowers Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf People from Dorsten Rowers from Münster (region) European Rowing Championships medalists {{Germany-rowing-Olympic-medalist-stub