Lothar Claesges from Krefeld in West Germany finished sixth in the 1,000 metre time trial at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. His greatest moment came when he won a gold medal with the German pursuit team, beating Italy by a very close margin of .07 seconds. At the finish it was impossible to tell who had won, and the jury conferenced for 10 minutes before announcing that Germany was the gold medalist. All four track cyclists came from West Germany. After winning the Olympic gold medal the team was honored with the Silver Bay Leaf, the highest sports award in Germany.
Claesges had won the World Championship in the team pursuit in 1962, and won silver in 1963. In 1964, the team again claimed gold at the Worlds. Claesges later rode six-days until he collided with a car during a training session, and was severely injured, after which he retired immediately. Domestically he won six national titles. By profession, Claesges was a furniture constructor.
Germany
West Germany