Fred KAMMERER

East German wrestler Fred Kämmerer lost his left forefoot in a labor accident shortly before his wrestling career began. For the whole sports career he had problems with his stability on the wrestling matt. Nevertheless he claimed twelve East German national titles in bantam and featherweight between 1954 and 1963 in both styles. He also came fifth and sixth in the bantamweight at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in Greco-Roman and freestyle respectively. In 1960 he finished ninth in the freestyle.

In 1963 wrestlers and sports officials of KSV Efferen near Cologne in West Germany organized his defection from East Germany together with his wife and his child and five more East German wrestlers in a converted minibus. They all defected directly from Leipzig, where the International Gymnastics and Sports Meeting took place. In 1964 and 1965 he was runner-up at the West German Championships but did not qualify for the 1964 Tokyo Games. Kämmerer later had also a career as a coach at KSV Efferen. By profession, he was a petrol station officer.