Martin Sauer (born 17 December 1982) is a German former representative

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

coxswain The coxswain ( or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the wiktionary:cockboat, cockboat, a ...

. He was an eight-time world champion at the senior level and three-time underage world champion. He is a triple Olympian and a triple Olympic medallist. He held his seat as coxswain of the German senior men's eight — the Deutschlandachter — constantly from 2009 to 2021 and steered that crew to their six world championship titles and also when at the 2017

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

II they set a world's best time of 5.18.68, which still the standing world mark as of 2021.Best times World Rowing
/ref> He coxed the German crew which won the gold medal in the men's eight competition at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

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. At the

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, he steered Germany's men's eight to their silver medal win. He was selected in the German Olympic rowing squad for Tokyo 2021 and coxed the men's eight for his third Olympic appearance and his second Olympic silver medal.

Early career

Sauer was born in 1982 in

Wriezen Wriezen () is a town in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, in north-eastern Germany, near the border with Poland. It is situated southeast of Bad Freienwalde. Etymology The name is of medieval Slavic Lechitic languages, Lechitic ori ...

. His club rowing has been from the Berliner RuderClub in Berlin.

Representative rowing career

Sauer's international representative debut was at the junior level, when he won a gold medal in the German junior men's eight at the

World Rowing Junior Championships The World Rowing U19 Championships, former name World Rowing Junior Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). A rower or coxswain shall be classified as a Junior until 31 Decemb ...

in 2000 in Zagreb.Sauer at World Rowing
/ref> He moved in to the German lightweight men's eight for the 2001 season and they finished in overall ninth place at the

2001 World Rowing Championships The 2001 World Rowing Championships were held from 19 to 26 August 2001 at Rotsee in Lucerne, Switzerland. Medal summary Men Non-Olympic classes Women Non-Olympic classes Medal table References {{Authority control World Rowing ...

. For the next tree years he represented at the U23 level. The Nations Cup in 2002 and 2003 were the then-equivalent of the U23 World Championships and Sauer was in the stern of German coxed fours which finished fifth in 2002 and took gold in 2003. At the first true

World Rowing U23 Championships World Rowing U23 Championships is an international rowing regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is ...

in Poznan in 2004 Sauer steered the German men's U23 eight to a gold medal win. Sauer stepped into the German senior squad in 2005 and took a coxed four to Japan for the

2005 World Rowing Championships The 2005 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 29 August to 4 September 2005 at the Nagaragawa International Regatta Course in Kaizu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The international rowing season usually ends ...

where they placed third. The next year at the

2006 World Rowing Championships The 2006 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 20 to 27 August 2006 at Dorney Lake, Dorney, Great Britain. Medal summary Men Non-Olympic classes Women Non-Olympic classes Pararowing The Pararowi ...

on Eton Dorney, they won gold and Sauer's first world championship title. At the

2007 World Rowing Championships The 2007 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 26 August to 2 September 2007 at Oberschleißheim Regatta Course in Oberschleißheim near Munich, Germany. Medal summary Men's events Non-Olympic classes ...

with Sauer at the helm the coxed four won a bronze medal and the in 2008 Sauer coxed the men's lightweight eight to a World Championship silver medal. The

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

saw the retirement of

Peter Thiede Peter Thiede (born 13 February 1968 in Ueckermünde, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a German rowing cox Cox or COX may refer to: Companies * Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company ** Cox Communications, cable p ...

who had been at the helm of the German men's eight since re-unification and was the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

men's eight coxswain from 1987. Sauer steered the eight at the 2008 European Championships and then from 2009 made the stern seat his own in the new Olympiad's rebuilt Deutschlandachter. They won gold and Sauer's second World Championship title at the

2009 World Rowing Championships The 2009 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 23 to 30 August 2009 at Lake Malta, Poznań, Poland. The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation), and hel ...

. In 2010 the eight was undefeated in finals during the international season and then at 2010 World Championships in New Zealand they defended their World Championship title. With Sauer on the rudder, the German crew won their third consecutive title at the 2011 World Championships after again winning all races they contested at three

Rowing World Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

s. At the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London, the favoured German eight won the gold medal with a crew consisting of Filip Adamski, Andreas Kuffner, Eric Johannesen,

Maximilian Reinelt Maximilian Reinelt (24 August 1988 – 9 February 2019) was a German rower and physician. He won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, as well as two World Championships and four European Champ ...

, Richard Schmidt, Lukas Müller, Florian Mennigen, Kristof Wilke and Sauer. Later that year each member of the crew was awarded 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 ...

(Silver Laurel Leaf), Germany's highest sports award, for the achievement. After his first Olympic success, Sauer remained constant in the German eight who since 2010 have been strong, permanent rivals against the British men's eight. From 2013 to 2015, the German team won gold each year at the European Rowing Championships but come the World Championship finals, the Great Britain pipped them each time by a margin of less than one second relegating the German eight to three consecutive silver medals. In the lead-up to

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Germany again finished either first or second at each regatta in the international season. In Rio the German crew won their heat but in the final were again beaten by Great Britain with a 1.33 second margin. Sauer now had his second Olympic medal – a silver and later that year he received a second

(Silver Laurel Leaf), Germany's highest sports award. In 2017 Sauer, Malte Jakschik, Richard Schmidt, and stroke Hannes Ocik were the only members of the German Olympic eight who rowed on. The eight was rebuilt around this stern end brains-trust. Sauer drove them through their dominant season campaign, winning gold at the European Championships, two World Rowing Cups and ultimately at the

2017 World Rowing Championships The 2017 World Rowing Championships were the 47th edition of the World Rowing Championships that were held from 24 September to 1 October 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. Host selection During 2013, Plovdiv and Sarasota, Florida both applied to host ...

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where the German eight were once again crowned world champions. In June 2017 at the

II in Poznan they set a new world's best time for the eight, taking 0.67 seconds off a 2012 mark that had been set by Canada. The German crew with every man holding the same seat, continued their European and world dominance throughout 2018 winning at three World Rowing Cups, the 2018 European Championships and then defending their world title at the

2018 World Rowing Championships The 2018 World Rowing Championships were the World Rowing Championships held at the regatta course in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The event was held from 9 to 16 September. Events held were men and women's open class, lightweight class, and para-rowing. ...

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. There were a handful of changes to the eight in 2019 but Sauer remained in the stern for another successful international season culminating in his sixth world championship title at the

2019 World Rowing Championships The 2019 World Rowing Championships were held in Ottensheim, Austria from 25 August to 1 September 2019. Apart from Ottensheim, the right to host the championships was contested by Hamburg in Germany, Račice (Litoměřice District), Račice in ...

Ottensheim Ottensheim is a municipality in the district of Urfahr-Umgebung in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. At its rowing venue, Regattastrecke Ottensheim, it has hosted numerous international rowing competitions, including various World Rowing Champ ...

. The German men's eight's 2019 performances qualified that boat for

Tokyo 2020 The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. By the time of the 2021 selections for those delayed Olympics, Sauer was still in the crew and made his third Olympic rowing appearance for another silver medal win.

Rowing palmares

* 2000: Eighth place

– M8+ * 2001: Silver medal

– M4+ * 2002: Fifth place

– M4+ * 2003: Gold medal

– M4+ * 2004: Gold medal

– M8+ * 2005: Bronze medal

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

– M4+ * 2006: Gold medal

– M4+ * 2007: Bronze medal

– M4+ * 2008: Silver medal

– LM8+ * 2008: 4th place

European Rowing Championships The European Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organised by World Rowing (named FISA until 2020) for European rowing nations, plus Israel, which, though not a member of the European federation, is treated as a European n ...

– M8+ * 2009: Gold medal

– M8+ * 2010: Gold medal European and

– M8+ * 2011: Gold medal

– M8+ * 2012: Gold medal London Olympics – M8+ * 2013: Gold medal

– M8+ * 2013: Silver medal

– M8+ * 2014: Gold medal

– M8+ * 2014: Silver medal

– M8+ * 2015: Gold medal

– M8+ * 2015: Silver medal

– M8+ * 2016: Silver medal

Rio de Janeiro Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

– M8+ * 2017: Gold medal European and

– M8+ * 2018: Gold medal European and

– M8+ * 2019: Gold medal European and

– M8+

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sauer, Martin 1982 births Living people People from Wriezen Sportspeople from Bezirk Frankfurt German male rowers German coxswains (rowing) Rowers from Brandenburg Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for Germany Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany World Rowing Championships medalists for Germany European Rowing Championships medalists Recipients of the Silver Laurel Leaf 21st-century German sportsmen