Biography of Hans-Georg Reimann

Hans-Georg Reimann (born 24 August 1941 in Starrischken, now Stariškė; died 20 February 2026 in Döbeln) was a German athlete and race walker. Competing for East Germany, he won two Olympic medals in the 20 kilometres walk: bronze in Munich in 1972 and silver in Montreal in 1976.

Race walking as a special discipline

Reimann competed for SC Dynamo Berlin and was coached by Max Weber. Race walking demands a special combination of endurance, technique and discipline: one foot stays in contact with the ground while every step counts against the clock. Reimann found his strength in this often marginal athletics discipline and became internationally visible in the 1960s.

Early international success

At the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade, Reimann won silver over 20 kilometres. Afterwards his path at major championships was uneven: at the Olympic Games he finished twelfth in 1964 and seventh in 1968, while European Championships brought placements without medals and one disqualification. Those years show how closely technique, form and rule control lie together in race walking.

Olympic medals

In 1972 Reimann reached his first Olympic medal in Munich. In the 20 kilometres walk he finished third behind Peter Frenkel and Volodymyr Holubnychy. Four years later in Montreal he won silver in a personal best. At the same Games Reimann was East Germany's flagbearer at the opening ceremony. His two Olympic medals made him one of the defining East German race walkers of that period.

After competition

Alongside sport, Reimann had trained as an engineer for measuring and control technology. After the end of his active career he worked as a race walking coach. After German reunification he worked outside elite sport and lived for a time in Bavaria. Olympedia later records Döbeln as his place of death.

Farewell

Hans-Georg Reimann died in Döbeln on 20 February 2026. He was 84 years old. His sporting name remains connected with a discipline that demands precision and endurance in every step, and with an East German athletics generation that was strongly represented in race walking internationally.