Stephan Fahrig (20 November 1968 – 23 January 2017) was a German lightweight rower and a sports scientist. Fahrig was born in 1968 in

Unkel Unkel is a town in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, near Remagen, about 20 km southeast of Bonn. Unkel is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipali ...

in West Germany. He took up rowing aged 14 and over his career, he won 15 national titles. Initially rowing for WSV Bad Honnef, he later changed to

RTHC Bayer Leverkusen Ruder Tennis Hockey Club Bayer Leverkusen (RTHC Bayer Leverkusen e.V.) is a German rowing, field hockey and tennis club, one of the projects supported by Bayer AG and with 2500 members, it is additionally one of the largest sports clubs in Leverkus ...

. He attended all

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...

between 1988 and 1995. He was regarded as a leader among his rowing colleagues, had a disciplined training regime, and an aim for perfection. At the

1988 World Rowing Championships The 1988 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held on 6 August 1988 at Milan in Italy. Since 1988 was an Olympic year for rowing, the World Championships did not include Olympic events scheduled for the 1988 Summ ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, he competed with the lightweight men's eight and came fourth. He won a gold medal at the 1989 World Rowing Championships in

Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

with the lightweight men's four. He retained his world championship title with the lightweight men's four at the

1990 World Rowing Championships Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

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. After the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, he competed at the

1991 World Rowing Championships The 1991 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 19 to 25 August 1991 in Vienna, Austria. The regatta was held on the New Danube. Medal summary The finals were raced on Saturday and Sunday, 24 and 25 August ...

with the lightweight men's four in

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and came sixth. At the

1992 World Rowing Championships The 1992 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 13 to 16 August 1992 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since 1992 was an Olympic year for rowing, the World Championships did not include Olympic events schedule ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, he won bronze with the lightweight men's quad scull. Changing back to

sweep rowing Sweep rowing is one of two disciplines of the sport of rowing. In sweep rowing each rower has one oar, usually held with both hands. As each rower has only one oar, the rowers have to be paired so that there is an oar on each side of the boat. I ...

, he competed at the

1993 World Rowing Championships The 1993 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 5 September 1993 at Račice, Czech Republic. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References {{World Rowing Cham ...

in Račice in the lightweight men's pair, and he won a bronze medal together with Herbert Vogt. At the

1994 World Rowing Championships The 1994 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 11 to 18 September 1994 at Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of t ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, he competed with the lightweight men's four and won bronze. His final international competition was the

1995 World Rowing Championships File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strik ...

, where he came fourth with the lightweight men's eight. In 2010, he obtained a doctorate in

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

, with the title of his thesis "Interaktionsproblematik im Riemenzweier der Sportart Rudern" (Problematic of the interaction of paired sweep rowers in the sport of rowing). He lived in

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 ...

, where he was distribution manager for medical equipment and competed in cycling. He died in 2017 from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, and was survived by his wife and their two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrig, Stephan 1968 births 2017 deaths German male rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for West Germany World Rowing Championships medalists for Germany Deaths from cancer in Germany Deaths from leukemia Rowers from Berlin