Heinz-Ulrich Walther (born 11 March 1943) is a German former

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

who represented

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

and the

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany (german: Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft) was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes f ...

in competition. With

Heidemarie Steiner Heidemarie Steiner married Walther, (born 9 May 1944 in Kolberg, Province of Pomerania) is a German figure skating coach and former competitor. She competed in pair skating and ladies singles. Steiner began as a single skater. But when she dr ...

, he is the 1970 World bronze medalist and a three-time

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

bronze medalist (1967–68, 1970). Walther competed at two Winter Olympics, placing 11th in 1964 with Brigitte Wokoeck and fourth with Steiner in 1968.

Skating career

Heinz-Ulrich Walther teamed up Brigitte Wokoeck by around 1959 and represented the club SC Dynamo Berlin. The pair won the 1963

Blue Swords Blue Swords (german: Pokal der Blauen Schwerter) is an international figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union. It is usually held in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladi ...

and two East German national titles, in 1962 and 1964. Representing the

, they placed 11th at the

1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games (german: IX. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1964 ( bar, Innschbruck 1964, label=Austro-Bavarian), was a winter multi-sport event which was celebr ...

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

. It was their final competition together. Walther formed a partnership with

by around 1965. Coached by Heinz-Friedrich Lindner, they represented SC Dynamo Berlin. The pair won the bronze medal at the 1967 European Championships in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

and repeated the following year at the 1968 European Championships in

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås ...

. They were selected to represent East Germany at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

and placed fourth. After obtaining their third European bronze medal at the 1970 European Championships in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, the pair concluded their competitive career with a World bronze medal, at the 1970 World Championships in Ljubljana. Walther has worked as an international figure skating judge and ISU technical controller for pair skating.

Personal life

Walther married Heidemarie Steiner in 1969. He studied medicine and worked at the

Charité The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Charité – Berlin University of Medicine) is one of Europe's largest university hospitals, affiliated with Humboldt University and Free University Berlin. With numerous Collaborative Research Cen ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He was an academic employee in the

orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

department at the Center for Complementary Medicine Research – CCM.

Competitive highlights

With Steiner

With Wokoeck

References

* * personal interview {{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Heinz-Ulrich 1943 births Living people People from Stendal People from the Province of Saxony German male pair skaters Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1968 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of East Germany Olympic figure skaters of the United Team of Germany Figure skating judges World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Saxony-Anhalt