Joachim Kunz

Joachim Kunz started his sports career as a gymnast with lesser success until Gunter Ambraß brought him to weightlifting. In 1975 he first appeared on the international scene, winning the Spartakiade. He then earned two silver medals at the World Championships in 1979 and 1980. He also won a silver medal at the 1980 Moskva Olympics, starting an impressive lightweight career.

In 1981 and 1983 Kunz won gold medals at the World Championships but could not compete at the 1984 Los Angeles Games due to the Soviet-led boycott. At the European Championships Kunz won gold medals in 1981 and 1983; silver medals in 1979, 1985, and 1988; and bronze medals in 1986-87. He set 10 lightweight world records – four in snatch, four in clean & jerk, and two in the total.

In 1988, Kunz was the first and only GDR weightlifter to win an Olympic gold medal after his rival Angel Genchev from Bulgaria was disqualified due to a positive post-competition doping test in Seoul. The Bulgarian weightlifting team then withdrew all their other lifters from the remainder of the competition in Seoul.

Domestically, Kunz won East German titles as a lightweight from 1979-81, and as a middleweight in 1983-84, 1987, and 1989. He later studied sports at the DHfK Leipzig (Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur) but withdrew during German re-unification. He then founded a food company supplying cantinas, senior residences, and pubs. In 1998 he founded MICO GmbH, which dealt with soups.