Athletes from East Germany (German Democratic Republic, called DDR in the opening ceremony) competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 297 competitors, 231 men and 66 women, took part in 161 events in 18 sports.
Peter Frenkel — Athletics, Men's 20 km WalkWolfgang Nordwig — Athletics, Men's Pole VaultRenate Stecher — Athletics, Women's 100 metresRenate Stecher — Athletics, Women's 200 metresMonika Zehrt — Athletics, Women's 400 metresAnnelie Ehrhardt — Athletics, Women's 100m HurdlesMonika Zehrt, Dagmar Käsling, Rita Kühne, and Helga Seidler — Athletics, Women's 4 × 400 m RelayRuth Fuchs — Athletics, Women's Javelin ThrowSiegbert Horn — Canoeing, Men's K1 Kayak Slalom SinglesReinhard Eiben — Canoeing, Men's C1 Canadian Slalom SinglesRolf-Dieter Amend and Walter Hofmann — Canoeing, Men's C2 Canadian Slalom PairsAngelika Bahmann — Canoeing, Women's K1 Kayak Slalom SinglesKlaus Köste — Gymnastics, Men's Long Horse VaultKarin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Side Horse VaultKarin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Asymmetrical BarsSiegfried Brietzke and Wolfgang Mager — Rowing, Men's Coxless PairsWolfgang Gunkel, Jörg Lucke, and Klaus-Dieter Neubert — Rowing, Men's Coxed PairsDieter Schubert, Frank Forberger, Dieter Grahn and Frank Rühle — Rowing, Men's Coxless FoursRoland Matthes — Swimming, Men's 100m BackstrokeRoland Matthes — Swimming, Men's 200m BackstrokeStefan Junge — Athletics, Men's High JumpJörg Drehmel — Athletics, Men's Triple JumpJochen Sachse — Athletics, Men's Hammer ThrowGunhild Hoffmeister — Athletics, Women's 1500 metresBärbel Struppert, Christina Heinich, Evelyn Kaufer, and Renate Stecher — Athletics, Women's 4 × 100 m RelayMargitta Gummel-Helmboldt — Athletics, Women's Shot PutJacqueline Todten — Athletics, Women's Javelin ThrowPetra Grabowski and Ilse Kaschube — Canoeing, Women's K2 500m Kayak PairsUwe Unterwalder, Thomas Huschke, Heinz Richter, and Herbert Richter — Cycling, Men's 4000m Team PursuitJürgen Geschke and Werner Otto — Cycling, Men's 2000m TandemKarin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's All-Around IndividualErika Zuchold — Gymnastics, Women's Side Horse VaultErika Zuchold — Gymnastics, Women's Asymmetrical BarsErika Zuchold, Richarda Schmeißer, Christine Schmitt, Irene Abel, Angelika Hellmann, and Karin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Team Combined ExercisesEckhard Martens, Dietrich Zander, Reinhard Gust, Rolf Jobst, and Klaus-Dieter Ludwig — Rowing, Men's Coxed FoursRoland Matthes, Klaus Katzur, Hartmut Flöckner, and Lutz Unger — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Medley RelayRoswitha Beier — Swimming, Women's 100m ButterflyKornelia Ender — Swimming, Women's 200m Individual MedleyGabriele Wetzko, Andrea Eife, Kornelia Ender, and Elke Sehmisch — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle RelayChristine Herbst, Renate Vogel, Roswitha Beier, and Kornelia Ender — Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Medley RelayRainer Tscharke, Wolfgang Webner, Wolfgang Weise, Siegfried Schneider, Arnold Schulz, Rudi Schumann, Jürgen Maune, Horst Peter, Eckehard Pietzsch, Horst Hagen, Wolfgang Löwe, and Wolfgang Maibohm — Volleyball, Men's Team CompetitionHeinz-Helmut Wehling — Wrestling, Men's Greco-Roman FeatherweightPaul Borowski, Karl-Heinz Thun and Konrad Weichert — Sailing, Men's Dragon ClassHans-Georg Reimann — Athletics, Men's 20 km WalkHartmut Briesenick — Athletics, Men's Shot PutGunhild Hoffmeister — Athletics, Women's 800 metresKarin Balzer — Athletics, Women's 100m HurdlesBurglinde Pollak — Athletics, Women's PentathlonPeter Tiepold — Boxing, Men's Light MiddleweightMarina Janicke — Diving, Women's 3m SpringboardMarina Janicke — Diving, Women's 10m PlatformHarald Gimpel — Canoeing, Men's K1 Kayak Slalom SinglesJürgen Schütze — Cycling, Men's 1000m Time TrialJürgen Paeke, Reinhard Rychly, Wolfgang Thüne, Matthias Brehme, Wolfgang Klotz, and Klaus Köste — Gymnastics, Men's Team Combined Exercises 559.70Karin Janz — Gymnastics, Women's Balance BeamDietmar Hötger — Judo, Men's Half Middleweight (70 kg)Wolfgang Güldenpfennig — Rowing, Men's Single ScullsJoachim Böhmer and Hans-Ullrich Schmied — Rowing, Men's Double ScullsManfred Schneider, Hartmut Schreiber, Dietmar Schwarz, Jörg Landvoigt, Heinrich Mederow, Manfred Schmorde, Hans-Joachim Borzym, Harold Dimke, and Bernd Landvoigt — Rowing, Men's Rowing EightsWerner Lippoldt — Shooting, Men's Small-bore Rifle, Three PositionsMichael Buchheim — Shooting, Men's Skeet ShootingKonrad Weise, Manfred Zapf, Joachim Streich, Eberhard Vogel, Siegmar Wätzlich, Ralf Schulenberg, Wolfgang Seguin, Jürgen Sparwasser, Hans-Jürgen Kreische, Lothar Kurbjuweit, Jürgen Pommerenke, Frank Ganzera, Reinhard Häfner, Harald Irmscher, Bernd Bransch, Jürgen Croy, and Peter Ducke — Football (soccer), Men's Team CompetitionLutz Unger, Peter Bruch, Wilfried Hartung, and Roland Matthes — Swimming, Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle RelayGudrun Wegner — Swimming, Women's 400m FreestyleStefan Grützner — Weightlifting, Men's HeavyweightGerd Bonk — Weightlifting, Men's Super HeavyweightMen's 800 metres
Dieter FrommHeat — 1:46.9Semifinals — 1:48.1Final — 1:48.0 (→ 8th place)Men's 1500 metres
Klaus-Peter JustusHeat — 3:40.4Semifinals — 3:44.6 (→ did not advance)Men's 4 × 100 m Relay
Manfred Kokot, Bernd Borth, Hans-Jörgen Bombach, and Siegfried SchenkeHeat — 39.17sSemifinals — 39.06sFinal — 38.90s (→ 5th place)Men's High Jump
Stefan JungeQualifying Round — 2.15mFinal — 2.21m (→ Silver Medal)Men's Light Middleweight (– 71 kg)
Peter Tiepold → Bronze MedalFirst Round — ByeSecond Round — Defeated Ion Györfi (ROM), 4:1Third Round — Defeated Mikko Saarinen (FIN), 5:0Quarterfinals — Defeated Emeterio Villanueva (MEX), 5:0Semifinals — Lost to Wiesław Rudkowski (POL), 1:4Men's Heavyweight (+ 81 kg)
Jürgen FanghänelFirst Round — Defeated Atanas Suvandzhiev (BUL), KO-1Quarterfinals — Lost to Ion Alexe (ROM), 0:5Eleven cyclists represented East Germany in 1972.
Individual road raceKarl-Heinz Oberfranz — 30th placeWolfgang Wesemann — 33rd placeDieter Gonschorek — did not finish (→ no ranking)Wolfram Kühn — did not finish (→ no ranking)SprintHans-Jürgen GeschkeWerner Otto1000m time trialJürgen SchützeFinal — 1:07.02 (→ Bronze Medal)TandemJürgen Geschke and Werner Otto — Silver MedalIndividual pursuitThomas HuschkeTeam pursuitThomas HuschkeHeinz RichterHerbert RichterUwe UnterwalderMen's 3m Springboard:
Falk Hoffmann — 544.95 points (→ 7th place)Helge Ziethen — 511.02 points (→ 12th place)Men's 10m Platform:
Lothar Matthes — 465.75 points (→ 4th place)Falk Hoffmann — 436.71 points (→ 10th place)Wolfram Ristau — 268.59 points (→ 23rd place)Women's 3m Springboard:
Marina Janicke — 430.92 points (→ Bronze Medal)Heidi Becker — 405.78 points (→ 9th place)Christa Köhler — 394.20 points (→ 11th place)Women's 10m Platform:
Marina Janicke — 360.54 points (→ Bronze Medal)Sylvia Fiedler — 341.67 points (→ 6th place)Five fencers, all men, represented East Germany in 1972.
Men's épéeHorst MelzigBernd UhligHans-Peter SchulzeMen's team épéeHarry Fiedler, Eckhard Mannischeff, Horst Melzig, Hans-Peter Schulze, Bernd UhligHandball
Men's Team CompetitionAs expected, the East Germans dominated the first round, defeating Iceland, Tunisia, and Czechoslovakia in turn to win their division. The second round began with a loss to the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia's wins over the Soviet Union and Sweden meant that the East Germans had to defeat Sweden as well just to tie the Czechoslovakian team in the standings, which they did. However, the tie-breaker went against the East Germans and they placed second in the division. They played the other division's second place team, Romania in the bronze medal game and lost, receiving fourth place.
Preliminary Round (Group B)East Germany – Iceland 16-11 (7-6)East Germany – Tunisia 21-9 (11-2)East Germany – Czechoslovakia 14-12 (5-4)Second Round (Group A)East Germany – Soviet Union 8-11 (4-4)East Germany – Sweden 14-11 (8-6)Bronze Medal GameEast Germany – Romania 16-19 (8-11) → 4th placeTeam RosterHarry ZörnackHorst JankhöferJosef RoseJürgen HildebrandKlaus LanghoffKlaus WeißPeter LarischPeter RandtRainer WürdigRainer ZimmermannReiner FrieskeReiner GanschowSiegfried VoigtUdo RöhrigWolfgang BöhmeWolfgang LakenmacherMen's Single Sculls
Wolfgang GüldenpfennigHeat — 7:46.31Repechage — 8:05.19Semi Finals — 8:16.35Final — 7:14.45 (→ Bronze Medal)Men's Coxed Pairs
Wolfgang Günkel, Jörg Lücke and Klaus-Dieter NeubertHeat — 7:54.11Semi Finals — 8:13.87Final — 7:17.25 (→ Gold Medal)Nine male shooters represented East Germany in 1972. Werner Lippoldt won bronze in the 50 m rifle, three positions and Michael Buchheim won bronze in the skeet.
25 m pistolChristian Düring50 m pistolHarald Vollmar300 m rifle, three positionsUto WunderlichWerner Lippoldt50 m rifle, three positionsWerner LippoldtUto Wunderlich50 m rifle, proneWerner LippoldtPeter GorewskiTrapBurckhardt HoppeManfred GeislerSkeetMichael BuchheimKlaus ReschkeMen's 100m Freestyle
Peter BruchHeat — 54.25sSemifinals — 53.97s (→ did not advance)Wilfried HärtungHeat — 54.37s (→ did not advance)Hartmut FlöcknerHeat — 54.36s (→ did not advance)Men's 200m Freestyle
Wilfried HärtungHeat — 1:56.95 (→ did not advance)Udo PoserHeat — 1:57.23 (→ did not advance)Peter BruchHeat — 1:58.49 (→ did not advance)Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay
Wilfried Härtung, Peter Bruch, Udo Poser and Lutz UngerHeat — 3:35.13Roland Matthes, Wilfried Härtung, Peter Bruch, and Lutz UngerFinal — 3:32.42 (→ Bronze Medal)Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay
Wilfried Härtung, Udo Poser, Roger Pyttel and Lutz UngerHeat — 7:51.11Wilfried Härtung, Peter Bruch, Udo Poser, and Lutz UngerFinal — 7:49.11 (→ 6th place)Men's Team CompetitionPreliminary Round (Group B)Defeated Cuba (3-0)Defeated Brazil (3-1)Lost to Japan (0-3)Defeated West Germany (3-0)Defeated Romania (3-0)SemifinalsDefeated Soviet Union (3-1)FinalLost to Japan (1-3) → Silver MedalTeam RosterSiggi SchneiderArnold SchulzWolfgang WebnerEckhardt PietzschRudi SchumannWolfgang WeiseHorst HagenHorst PeterWolfgang LöweRainer TscharkeWolf MaibohnJürgen Maune 
