Hans Günter Winkler

Hans Günter Winkler (born July 24 1926 in Barmen - now part of Wuppertal) is a successful former German show jumping rider. He is the only show jumper to win 5 Olympic gold medals and 7 total Olympic medals, and the only equestrian in any discipline to compete and win medals in 6 different Olympic Games.

In the 1950s and 1960s Winkler was one of Germany's most popular athletes. He won his first German championship in 1952, making him one of the favorites for the Olympic Games 1956.

1956 found the Equestrian Games in Stockholm, as the athletes and their horses were not allowed to travel to Melbourne due to quarantine restrictions. In the first round, Winkler pulled a groin muscle at the penultimate obstacle, after his mare took off early and threw him out of position. Despite the pain, Winkler decided to ride in the third round, as the German team would be eliminated without him. After he was given tranquilizers, Winkler found that he was comfortable sitting, but riding was difficult and painful. Any drugs that could reduce the pain enough to make him comfortable in the saddle would also reduce his mental capacity, and therefore he was only given black coffee before his ride to try to help reduce his dizziness and double-vision. However, his great mare, Halla, sensed that her rider was not right, and performed the entire course clear with only steering from Winkler, and their performance won them the individual gold.

Winkler won five gold medals in jumping (in addition to the four individual medals with the German team) between 1956 and 1976, and a silver medal. He is one of the most successful German Olympic athletes, second only to the great Reiner Klimke for gold medals produced in German equestrian competition. He was 1955 and 1956 to athlete of the year. In 1986, Winkler retired from active competition. He has since published numerous books on riding and founded in 1991 the HGW-Marketinggesellschaft, a sports marketing firm that has helped produce various equestrian competitions. He is also a member of the German Equestrian Federation's Jumping Committee, and helped to select the 2000 Olympic Team for Germany.

Hans Günter Winkler also received the Federal Cross of Merit, and the media award Bambi and the 2002 award as weltbester jumping at the Olympic Games.

Major achievements

*Olympic Games
**1956 Stockholm: Team gold medal and individual gold medal on "Halla"
**1960 Rome: Team gold medal. Individually finished 5th on "Halla"
**1964 Tokyo: Team gold medal. Individually finished 16th on "Fidelitas"
**1968 Mexico City: Team bronze medal. Individually finished 5th on "Enigk"
**1972 Munich: Team gold medalon "Torphy"
**1976 Montreal: Team silver medal. Individually finished 10th on "Torphy"

*World championships
**1954 Madrid: Individual gold medal on "Halla"
**1955 Aachen: Individual gold medal on "Halla"/"Orient"

*European championships
**1957 Rotterdam: Individual gold medal on "Sonnenglanz"
**1958 Aachen: Individual bronze medal on "Halla"
**1961 Aachen: Individual bronze medal on "Romanus"
**1962 London: Individual silver medal on "Romanus"
**1969 Hickstead: Individual bronze medal on "Enigk"

*Other
**Five German Championships (1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1959)

References

* "Halla, My horse and I!" - Warendorf : FN Verlag, New edition July 2007
* "Springreiten". - München : Dt. Bücherbund, 1980
* Bryant, Jennifer O. "Olympic Equestrian, A Century of International Horse Sport." Lexington, KY: Blood-Horse Publications, 2008

Literature

* Ludwig, Dieter: "Hans Günter Winkler". - Warendorf : FN-Verl., 1983. - ISBN 3-88542-025-2
* Eckhard F. Schröter: "The happiest place on earth. The life and career of German riders.". Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1980, ISBN 3-596-23019-5

External links

* [http://www.hgwinkler.de/ Hans Günter Winklers Website]