Holger ZANDER

Sprint canoeist Holger Zander partnered with Heinz Büker at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in the K2-1,000 metres, with the pair winning a bronze medal, for which they were both awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, the highest sports award in Germany. Zander also won a silver with the mixed German kayak fours. Zander and Büker won another bronze at the 1963 Worlds in the K2-500, adding a silver in 1966.

Zander came back in 1968 to Mexico City with his new partner Berni Schulz, but finished last in the final of the K2-1000, then representing West Germany. Domestically he claimed national K1 titles over 500 metres in 1963-64 and 1966-68, and over 1,000 metres in 1964 and 1966. In 1966, and from 1970-72 he also won West German national titles in the kayak relay. In 1967 Zander earned his last international medal with a bronze in the relay.