Heiner THADE

Modern pentathlete Heiner Thade finished 32nd and seventh at the 1968 Mexico and 1972 München Olympics, respectively, finishing 13th and sixth with the team. He won the 1972 West German title, while from 1973-75 he was runner-up. In 1973 the West German team earned a silver medal at the World Championships.

In 1973 Thade became lecturer at the Faculty of Sport of the University of München and worked as Academic Director until 2004. From 1985-89 he lived in South Africa. He received negative publicity at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games, when he “founded” the method of inflating the intestines of swimmers with air to improve their buoyancy.