Thorsten Engelmann (born 20 July 1981 in

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 ...

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 ...

) is a German

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

. Engelmann started rowing at age 9 because his father was the president of a rowing club in Berlin. He continued training while earning his pre-diploma in economics at school, and was a member of the German national squad. Engelmann became world champion in the

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...

in 2006, won the silver medal in the 2002 and 2007 World Championships, and won bronze twice, in 2001 and 2005. He placed fourth in the Summer Olympic Games in 2004. Engelmann is also a former World Under–23 champion from 2000 and was the overall world cup winner in 2001–2003 and 2005. In 2005, Engelmann was a member of the Dortmund crew that won the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing cl ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

. He also rowed for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in the 2006

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

(losing against Oxford). He competed as a member of the winning Cambridge Crew in the 2007 Boat Race, where he weighed in at , the heaviest rower ever to compete in the contest. In July 2007 Engelmann did not complete his academic course and instead returned to the German national rowing team to prepare for the Beijing Olympics. It was reported that Oxford asked for the 2007 race to be awarded to them, or declared void, as Engelmann was so important to the crew and appeared not to have been a genuine student. Although Cambridge refused to void the event, Engelmann was denied his

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

, making him the only Boat Race crew member not to have a Blue. In May 2010, Engelmann took part in the game show ''

Schlag den Raab ''Schlag den Raab'' (, German for ''Beat (the) Raab'') was a live game show that was televised by German television channel ProSieben on Saturday evenings from September 2006 until December 2015. A total of six episodes were produced and broad ...

''. He was, however, unsuccessful in winning the

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500,000 jackpot.

References

1981 births Living people Rowers from Berlin Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic rowers of Germany Cambridge University Boat Club rowers World Rowing Championships medalists for Germany {{Germany-rowing-bio-stub

See also

References