Volker Fried

Field hockey player Volker Fried participated in four consecutive Olympic Games winning silver medals at Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988, representing West Germany. In 1984 the team lost the final 2-1 after extra time against Pakistan, and in 1988 Great Britain was the gold medal after a 3-1 win. At Barcelona in 1992, the now re-unified German team won the final against Australia 2-1, and earned the gold medal. 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 finished fourth after losing the bronze medal match 3-2.

In 1991, Fried won the European Championships, and was European Indoor Champion 1980, 1984, and 1988. He also won bronze medals at the 1986 and 1987 Europeans, and won the Champions Trophy in 1987-88 and 1991-92. In total, he won 290 (including 40 indoor) international caps between 1980-96.

Domestically, Fried played with Rot-Weiss Köln. He later turned to coaching and coached Düsseldorfer HC, Marienburger SC Köln, Rheydter SV and then the women’s and later the men’s teams of RHTC Bayer Leverkusen.