Wolfgang BARTELS

Wolfgang Bartels came from Berechtesgaden (FRG) and shortly after the 1964 Winter Games crashed so hard with his car that he could not continue his career as a ski racer. From 1967-76 he was nevertheless a very successful national downhill coach, coaching amongst others Maria and Irene Epple as well as Michael Veith and Sepp Ferstl. In 1964, he had won the bronze medal in the downhill and placed ninth in the slalom, but did not finish the giant slalom. In 1963 he was world ranked #1 in downhill. On a national level he won three championships in West Germany from 1962-64. He was the son of a restaurant owner and also became a restaurant owner, and besides that main job, worked as a skiing coach. Bartels was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf (Silbernes Lorbeerblatt) by the German state president Heinrich Lübke.