Renate Boesler, also referred to as Bösler and later as Gunkel, is a retired East German rower who won medals at European championships between 1963 and 1971. During that time, she became European Champion four times in two different boat classes.

Rowing career

At the 1963 European Rowing Championships in Moscow, she won a silver medal in the coxed quad sculls event with a team from Berliner TSC. At the

1964 European Rowing Championships The 1964 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Bosbaan regatta course in the Dutch capital Amsterdam. Women competed from 31 July to 2 August. Men competed the following week from 6 to 9 August. Men competed in all s ...

in Amsterdam, she won a gold medal in the same boat class but with different team members apart from Antje Thiess; this time the rowers came from several clubs. Since women's rowing had formally become a part of the European Rowing Championships in 1954, this was only the second time that East Germany had won this boat class (the previous occasion had been in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

), with all other titles having gone to the Soviet Union. The team remained in the same composition for the 1965 rowing season and at the annual regatta for

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

countries held at the

Grünau Regatta Course The Langer See is a lake situated in the south-eastern outskirts of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. The lake is aligned south-east to north-west and forms part of the course of the River Dahme. The Langer See is approximately long, with an ...

, the coxed quad scull team beat the boat from the Soviet Union by two lengths. All East German teams stayed away from the

1965 European Rowing Championships The 1965 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Wedau regatta course in the West German city of Duisburg. This edition of the European Rowing Championships was held from 20 to 22 August for women, and from 26 to 29 Aug ...

held in Duisburg, West Germany. At the

1967 European Rowing Championships The 1967 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on Lake Allier, a reservoir in the Allier River adjacent to the French city of Vichy. This edition of the European Rowing Championships was held from 1 to 3 September for women ...

in Vichy, Boesler competed with the women's eight and won a silver medal. At the

1968 European Rowing Championships The 1968 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Grünau Regatta Course in the East Berlin suburb of Grünau. This edition of the European Rowing Championships was for women only and was held from 16 to 18 August. Twe ...

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, Boesler won a gold medal with the women's eight. At the

1969 European Rowing Championships The 1969 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Wörthersee in the Austrian city of Klagenfurt. This edition of the European Rowing Championships was held from 5 to 7 September for women, and a few days later for men. ...

in Klagenfurt, the East German women's eight competed with its success and retained their European Championship title. The

1970 European Rowing Championships The 1970 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on Lake Öreg in Tata, Hungary. There were five competitions for women only (W1x, W2x, W4x+, W4+, W8+); the events for men were contested two weeks later at the 1970 World Rowi ...

were held in Tata, Hungary, and the East German women's eight became European Champion for the third year running. At the

1971 European Rowing Championships The 1971 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on Lake Bagsværd in the Danish capital Copenhagen. There were seven competitions for men and five for women, and the most successful nation was East Germany with five gold med ...

in Copenhagen, Boesler was again part of the women's eight and this time, the team won a silver medal. Throughout her rowing career, she started for the

Berliner TSC Berliner is most often used to designate a citizen of Berlin, Germany Berliner may also refer to: People * Berliner (surname) Places * Berliner Lake, a lake in Minnesota, United States * Berliner Philharmonie, concert hall in Berlin, Germany * ...

. She retired after the 1972 rowing season and was celebrated alongside other retiring international rowers in May 1973.

Awards

In December 1963, Boesler was given the honorary award Master of Sport alongside her four team mates from Berliner TSC. Three of the rowers of the women's eight who won European gold in 1968 and 1969 were awarded the Medal of Merit of the GDR in January 1970: Boesler,

Ursula Pankraths Ursula Pankraths is a retired East German rower who won six medals at European championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading ...

, and

Renate Schlenzig Renatus is a first name of Latin origin which means "born again" (natus = born). In Italian, Portuguese and Spanish it exists in masculine and feminine forms: Renato and Renata. In French they have been translated to René and Renée. Renata is a ...

. In September 1970, six rowers of women's eight were awarded a Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze for winning three consecutive world championship titles since 1968:

Gudrun Apelt Gudrun ( ; non, Guðrún) or Kriemhild ( ; gmh, Kriemhilt) is the wife of Sigurd/Siegfried and a major figure in Germanic heroic legend and literature. She is believed to have her origins in Ildico, last wife of Attila the Hun, and two que ...

, Barbara Behrend, Marita Berndt, Gabriele Rotermund, Renate Schlenzig, and Boesler.

Family

Boesler is the aunt of sisters

Petra Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock", Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is adjacent to t ...

and Martina Boesler. Both her nieces have won Olympic rowing medals. Some time between August 1971 and May 1973, Boesler married fellow international rower Wolfgang Gunkel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boesler, Renate Year of birth missing (living people) East German female rowers Rowers from Berlin Living people European Rowing Championships medalists