Eberhard Gienger (; born 21 July 1951) is a German

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

( CDU) and former West German

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

. He competed at the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

and

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, winning bronze in the latter.

Gymnastics career

During his gymnastics career from 1971 to 1981, Gienger won 36 German championship titles; one gold and three silver medals in world championships; three gold, two silver and two bronze medals in European championships, and one Olympic bronze medal. Gienger was an outstanding

high bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

artist: He won the European Championships in 1973, 1975 and 1981; he won gold in the 1974 World Championships, and won the bronze medal in the 1976 Olympic Games. For these feats he was elected German Sportsman of the Year in 1974 and 1978. The

Gienger The Gienger is a gymnastics skill performed on the uneven bars for women and the high bar for men. It is named after German gymnast Eberhard Gienger. The release move looks like a half-turn layout "flyaway" above the bar to catch the same bar. Its ...

salto on the

and on the

uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...

is named after him.

Political career

Gienger was a member of the German

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

from 1986 to 2006, and since 2006 has been the Vice President of the

Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund The German Olympic Sports Confederation (german: Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund or DOSB) was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the ''Deutscher Sportbund'' (DSB), and the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland'' (NOK) which dates ...

, the successor organization to the German NOC. Gienger entered politics in 2001 and became a member of the Christian Democratic Union. He has been a member of the German Parliament since the 2002 elections, representing the Neckar-Zaber electoral district of the southern German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

. In parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on Sports and the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. In February 2020, Gienger announced he would not seek reelection in the

2021 German federal election Federal elections in Germany, Federal elections were held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the List of members of the 20th Bundestag, 20th Bundestag. States of Germany, State elections in 2021 Berlin state election, Berli ...

References

External links

* * *
Parliamentary home page of Eberhard Gienger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gienger, Eberhard 1951 births Living people People from Künzelsau German Protestants German male artistic gymnasts Olympic bronze medalists for West Germany Olympic medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 1972 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1976 Summer Olympics Members of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Universiade medalists in gymnastics Universiade gold medalists for West Germany Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag 2009–2013 Members of the Bundestag 2005–2009 Members of the Bundestag 2002–2005 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg European champions in gymnastics

Gymnastics career

Political career

References

Further reading

External links