Uwe POTTECK

Sports shooter Uwe Potteck surprisingly won the gold medal at the 1976 Montréal Olympics in the 50 metres free pistol event, representing East Germany, ahead of teammate Harald Vollmar. Potteck had never previously appeared in any formal result list. He then participated in two more Games, 1980 at Moskva, placing 16th, and 1988 at Seoul, when he was ninth. He could not compete at Los Angeles in 1984 due to the Eastern bloc boycott. Potteck's brother Jens also competed in Seoul, and finished tenth in the air pistol competition.

Uwe Potteck won East German Championships with the air pistol in 1980-82 and 1988-89, with the free pistol in 1977, 1979-81, 1985, 1987-88 and 1990. After re-unification, he won several more German national titles. At the World Championships he won one gold, four silver and three bronze medals.

Potteck started his active career as a wrestler, then turned to sea sports and sailing. It was only at the beginning of the 1970s that he started sports shooting. He later worked on the service staff for sports weapons at the Feinwerkbau company in the Black Forest. He had previously studied sports science at the DHfK Leipzig.