West German rower Matthias Mellinghaus won the gold medal with the eights at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Therefore, all crew members were awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. The same year, the crew also won the national title.
Mellinghaus later studied German and history, and finally film and stage direction at the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg. He then moved to Vancouver, Canada, and was active in the areas of television plays, television series, documentary films, and advertising, mainly as an assistant director.
West Germany