Hans-Jürgen GESCHKE

Hans-Jürgen Geschke, father of Simon Geschke, was one of the most successful East German track cyclists in the 1960s and 1970s. Together with team-mate Werner Otto, he reached the tandem quarter-finals at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Four years later at München, the two men collected the silver medal. Geschke also reached the quarter-finals of the sprint in 1972, and won the bronze medal in 1976 at Montréal.

Both Geschke and Otto also won two tandem World titles, in 1969 and 1971, and added a silver (1970) and bronze medal (1973) to their collection. Geschke then crowned his career in 1977 by winning the sprint title at the World Championships. He also won ten East German sprint titles in 1964, 1966-71 and 1973–75, and from 1968-71 he won four tandem titles with Otto.

Geschke later became a cycling coach, and owned a cycling shop in Wandlitz. From 1990-93 he was employed as Denmark’s national head coach. During his active career, he was also known as “Tutti”, as his father was an Italian.