Meinhard Nehmer facts for kids
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's bobsleigh | ||
Representing  East Germany |
||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 1976 Innsbruck | Two-man |
| Gold | 1976 Innsbruck | Four-man |
| Gold | 1980 Lake Placid | Four-man |
| Bronze | 1980 Lake Placid | Two-man |
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 1977 St. Moritz | Four-man |
| Silver | 1978 Lake Placid | Two-man |
| Silver | 1979 Königssee | Four-man |
| Bronze | 1978 Lake Placid | Four-man |
Meinhard Nehmer was a famous bobsledder from East Germany. He was born on January 13, 1941, in a place called Boblin, near Pölitz. He became well-known for winning many medals in bobsleigh. He competed in two Winter Olympics and won four medals. These included three gold medals and one bronze medal. Meinhard Nehmer also had the honor of carrying the East German flag. He did this during the opening ceremony of the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
Contents
Olympic Success
Meinhard Nehmer was very successful at the Winter Olympics.
- In 1976 in Innsbruck, he won two gold medals. One was in the two-man bobsleigh event. The other was in the four-man bobsleigh event.
- In 1980 in Lake Placid, he won another gold medal. This was in the four-man bobsleigh. He also won a bronze medal in the two-man bobsleigh.
World Championship Medals
Besides the Olympics, Meinhard Nehmer also won medals at the FIBT World Championships. These championships are another very important bobsleigh competition.
- He won one gold medal in the four-man event in 1977.
- He earned two silver medals. One was in the two-man event in 1978. The other was in the four-man event in 1979.
- He also won a bronze medal in the four-man event in 1978.
Early Life and Start in Sports
Meinhard Nehmer grew up on Rügen, an island in Germany. His father was a farmer. Before he became a bobsledder, Meinhard was an athlete in a different sport. He was a javelin thrower. This means he threw a long spear as far as he could. His best throw was 81.5 meters, which is very impressive!
He stopped competing in javelin when he was 30 years old. A bobsleigh coach named Horst Hörnlein then asked him to try bobsleigh. Meinhard was 32 at the time. He thought he might be too old to start a new sport. But he decided to give it a try. He had only been bobsledding for three years when he won his first Olympic medals in 1976. This shows how quickly he became good at the sport!
Life After Bobsleigh
Meinhard Nehmer stopped competing in bobsleigh in the early 1980s. After his sports career, he worked for the navy in East Germany. He rose to a high rank, like a commander. However, he left his job in late 1990 after German reunification, when East and West Germany became one country again.
After that, Meinhard Nehmer became a bobsleigh coach.
- From 1991 to 1993, he coached the United States bobsleigh team. He helped them compete in the 1992 Winter Olympics. He also guided them to win their first bobsleigh medal at the World Championships in 24 years in 1993. His coaching also helped Brian Shimer's team win an overall Bobsleigh World Cup title.
- Then, from 1993 to 2000, he was the national coach for Italy.
- After that, he became an assistant coach for the German national team. He worked with his former teammate, Raimund Bethge. Together, they helped bobsledders like Christoph Langen and André Lange win Olympic gold medals.
Meinhard Nehmer retired from coaching after the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He then returned to his farm on Rügen.
Hall of Fame
In July 2016, Meinhard Nehmer was honored for his amazing sports career. He was inducted into Germany's Sports Hall of Fame. This is a special place for the greatest athletes in German history.
External links
- Meinhard Nehmer at OlympediaLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Meinhard Nehmer at Olympics.com (archived: OlympicChannel.com and Olympic.org)
See also
In Spanish: Meinhard Nehmer para niños
