Thomas Lange (born 27 February 1964) is a German

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 won two gold and one bronze Olympic medals in the single sculls. Lange is one of six rowers (along with

Mahé Drysdale Alexander Mahé Owens Drysdale (born 19 November 1978) is a New Zealand politician and retired rower. Drysdale is a two-time Olympic champion and a five-time world champion in the single sculls. He is a seven-time New Zealand national champion ...

, Pertti Karppinen,

Peter-Michael Kolbe Peter-Michael Kolbe (; 2 August 1953 – 8 December 2023) was a German rower who specialized in the single sculls. In this event, between 1975 and 1988 he won five world titles and three Olympic silver medals, in 1976, 1984, and 1988; he missed ...

, Ondřej Synek and Vyacheslav Ivanov) to win medals in the single sculls in three different Olympics.

Biography

His first international appearance was at the 1980

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 ...

, where he won the gold medal in the double sculls (2x). He then went on to win the singles title in the next two Junior World Championships. He first competed at the senior level in 1983, and at the age of 19, won the double sculls at the

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 ...

with Uwe Heppner, which they repeated in 1985. Lange and Heppner would have been the favorites for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

in Los Angeles, but

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

chose to boycott the games. In 1986, Lange changed to the single sculls. However, illness prevented him from competing that year. He recovered by 1987 and won his first World Championship in the single sculls besting Pertti Karppinen and

who between then had won 10 of the previous 12 World and Olympic titles. Lange repeated this feat by winning the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul. In 1989 he again won the World Championship. By that time East Germany was disintegrating and Lange began his studies as a medical doctor. His father was a member of the

Stasi The Ministry for State Security (, ; abbreviated MfS), commonly known as the (, an abbreviation of ), was the Intelligence agency, state security service and secret police of East Germany from 1950 to 1990. It was one of the most repressive pol ...

and committed suicide. Despite his demanding schedule and the emotional angst of his country's disintegration, in 1990, with Stefan Ullrich, Lange won a silver medal in the double sculls at the world championships. In 1991, representing the unified Germany, Lange again won the world title in the single sculls. At the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona, Lange was a repeat winner in the single. For Lange, this was his fifth straight (non-consecutive) World Championship or Olympic victory in the single sculls. Lange would go on to take third at the 1993 World championships and won the

Diamond Challenge Sculls The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a Rowing (sport), rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. First run in 1844, it is open to male scullers from all eligible rowin ...

(the premier singles sculls event) at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

, rowing for the Ruderverein Bollberg-Halle. He took 1994 off to concentrate on his medical studies before finishing out of the running in the 1995 World Championships, and come back to claim a bronze medal at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

behind Switzerland's

Xeno Müller Xeno R. Müller (born 7 August 1972) is a Swiss people, Swiss Rowing (sport), rower and Olympic Games, Olympic gold medallist. Early career and university His first international appearance was at the 1990 World Rowing Junior Championships – ...

and Canada's

Derek Porter Derek Nesbitt-Porter (born 2 November 1967) is a gold medal-winning Olympic rower from Canada. Early life and education He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and his father Hugh rowed for England at the 1958 British Empire and Commonweal ...

. In October 1986, he was awarded a

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in gold (first class) for his sporting success. In 1997, Lange was awarded the

Thomas Keller Medal The Thomas Keller Medal is given by the World Rowing Federation (FISA) for an outstanding international career in the sport of rowing. It is the highest honor in rowing and is awarded to any athlete within five years of his/her retirement from the ...

for outstanding career in rowing. Currently Lange works a medical doctor in

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by Ratzeburger See, four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the distri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Thomas 1964 births East German male rowers German male rowers Rowers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers for East Germany Olympic rowers for Germany Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany People from Eisleben Living people World Rowing Championships medalists for East Germany World Rowing Championships medalists for Germany Thomas Keller Medal recipients Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Free State of Saxony Rowers from Saxony-Anhalt Sportspeople from Bezirk Halle SC Chemie Halle sportspeople