Rudolf Bortz, born in Yushny in Kaliningrad, but expelled at the end of World War II, competed as a sports shooter at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games with the mixed German team. He finished 24th in the prone small-bore rifle event. He was also on the West German team at the 1963 Europeans, winning two gold medals in the individual prone small-bore rifle and the three-position event. He also claimed a third gold medal with the small-bore rifle team. One year earlier Bortz and the German team had earned a bronze at the Worlds.