Carsten Fischer

Carsten Fischer was a world class field hockey player, and participated in four consecutive Olympic Games, winning silver medals at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Games, representing West Germany. In 1984 the team lost the final against Pakistan 2-1 after extra time, and in 1988 Great Britain won the gold medal with a 3-1 win. At Barcelona in 1992, the now re-unified German team won the final against Australia 2-1. Therefore, the team and all players were awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. In 1996, at Atlanta, the team again played Australia, but lost the bronze medal match 3-2 and finished fourth.

Fischer was European Youth Champion in 1981 and World Youth Champion in 1982. He also won the European Championships in 1991, and was European Indoor Champion in 1984 and 1988. Fischer also won bronze medals at the 1986 and 1987 Europeans. He also won the Champions Trophy six times in 1986-88, 1991-92 and 1995. In total, he won 259 (including 13 indoor) international caps and scored 154 goals between 1982-96.

Domestically, Fischer played with THC Uhlenhorst Mülheim, winning the German Championship eight times between 1985 and 1995 (also indoor title in 1987), and the European Champions Cup eight times in a row from 1988-95. His specialty was to shoot punishing corners.

In 1990 Fischer was diagnosed with a severe type 1 diabetes due to external changes. Fischer lost his hair and became a “bald hockey player”. He learned how to cope with his illness, and through that experience, helped others in a similar situation. For this he received the Georg-von-Opel-Prize in 2001. He later became senior physician for orthopedics and trauma surgery at the Elisabeth Hospital in his hometown Dorsten.