Klaus BONSACK

Three-time Olympian Klaus-Michael Bonsack was the East German flagbearer at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics. He was one of the most successful East German lugers winning four Olympic medals: one gold in 1968 with Thomas Köhler in the doubles, one silver in the 1964 singles, and two bronzes – in the 1968 singles and in 1972 with Wolfram Fiedler in doubles. Bonsack also won five World Championship medals with one gold (doubles in 1967), two silvers (doubles in 1965, singles in 1967), and two bronzes (singles in 1963, doubles in 1969), and also won 11 East German Championships.

After his retirement he studied at the engineering high school at Schmalkalden and found a job at the scientific centre of the East German bobsleigh federation. After German reunification he became a coach for the Austrian Luging Federation where he coached, among others, the sisters Doris and Angelika Neuner. Bonsack later served as chairman of the track construction commission, approving the final homologation of Cesana Pariol prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics at Torino for luge. He was among the first three inductees in the FIL Hall of Fame in 2004, along with Paul Hildgartner and Margit Schumann.