Wolfgang Gunkel (15 January 1948 – 20 May 2020) was an East German rower who mostly competed in

coxed pair A coxed pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of two rowers, each having one oar, and a cox. One rower ...

s together with

Jörg Lucke Jörg Lucke (born 7 January 1942) is a retired East German rower. He won a bronze medal in the eights at the 1966 World Championships and an Olympic gold medal in the coxless pairs in 1968. After that he competed in the coxed pair A coxed p ...

. In this event he won the European title in 1971, the Olympic gold medal in

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 mean solar tim ...

, and the world title in 1975. His crew placed fourth at the 1968 Olympics. Gunkel won another world title in the men's eight in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. In February 1978, he was given the sports awards Honoured Master of Sports. In the early 1970s, he married fellow international rower Renate Boesler.

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* * * 1948 births 2020 deaths People from East Berlin Rowers from Berlin East German male rowers Olympic rowers for East Germany Rowers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic medalists in rowing World Rowing Championships medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics 21st-century German politicians Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver European Rowing Championships medalists {{Germany-rowing-Olympic-medalist-stub