Rudi Cerne (born 26 September 1958) is a German TV presenter and former

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He is the 1984 European silver medalist and a two-time West German national champion. He competed at two Winter Olympics, finishing fourth in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Personal life

Cerne was born on 26 September 1958 in

Wanne-Eickel Herne () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum, and Gelsenkirchen. History Herne (ancient Haranni) was a tiny village until the 19th century. When the mining of coal ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. His father was a figure skater. In 1987, Cerne married his wife Christiane, with whom he has a daughter.

Career

Figure skating

When he was six years old, Cerne was introduced to ice skating by his father, a former ice skater who had lost a leg in the war. His skating club was Herner EV in

Herne, Germany Herne () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum, and Gelsenkirchen. History Herne (ancient Haranni) was a tiny village until the 19th century. When the mining of coal ...

. He was coached by

Günter Zöller Günter Zöller (born 21 May 1948) is a German figure skating coach and former competitor for East Germany. He is the 1970 World bronze medalist, the 1970 European bronze medalist, a five-time Blue Swords champion, and a five-time East Germa ...

and was a member of West Germany's national team in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His domestic rivals included

Norbert Schramm Norbert Schramm (born April 7, 1960) is a German former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time European champion, a two-time World silver medalist, and a three-time German national champion. Skating career Schramm began skating at age six ...

and Heiko Fischer. He was most known for his elegant style, which emulated that of

John Curry John Anthony Curry, (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British figure skater. He was the 1976 European, World and Olympic Champion. He was noted for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating. Early life Curry was ...

, and his strong edging. Cerne won the German Figure Skating Championships in 1978 and 1980. Then, in 1981, a younger teammate,

, emerged and went on to dominate not only the German Nationals but also various international competitions. Schramm won two consecutive world silver medals in 1982 and 1983 while Cerne could barely place in the top dozen, which prompted many to conclude that Cerne's career as the top West German male skater was over. In 1984, however, 26-year-old Cerne entered the scene with a new attitude and consistent triple jumps due to intensive training. Most notably, Cerne had mastered the triple

Lutz jump The Lutz is a figure skating jump named after Alois Lutz, an Austrian skater. It is a toepick-assisted jump with an entrance from a back outside edge and landing on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. It is the second-most difficult jum ...

, which he needed in order to be technically competitive with Schramm as well as other top skaters. Cerne received the bronze medal at the German Championships during his final two seasons, 1982–83 and 1983–84, but won silver at the 1984 European Championships in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary, behind Alexandr Fadeev of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He went on to finish 4th at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, Yugoslavia, having ranked third in the compulsory figures, sixth in the short program, and fourth in the free skate. After placing fifth at the 1984 World Championships, Cerne turned professional and skated with " Holiday on Ice". He also became a figure skating coach.

Television

After ending his figure skating career, Cerne became a TV journalist, working initially for the German public TV station ARD, presenting sport shows from 1992 onwards. In 1996, he joined

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 ( ...

, Germany's other public broadcaster. He also presents '' Aktenzeichen XY… ungelöst'', a show about unresolved crimes, since 2002.

Results

1976–1984

1969–1976

References

MDR German TV Station
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerne, Rudi 1958 births Living people German male single skaters Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for West Germany German sports journalists German sports broadcasters German male journalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists ARD (broadcaster) people ZDF people ZDF heute presenters and reporters People from Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia Sportspeople from Arnsberg (region) 20th-century German sportsmen