Raimund Bethge

Raimund Bethge was East German national champion in the 110 hurdles and 55 metre hurdles indoor in 1969, and one year later won another title in the 4 x 100 relay. He was fifth in the 1969 European Championships in the high hurdles and won the 1970 European Indoor title over the 60 m hurdles. He then turned to bobsleigh in 1975 and won a gold in the four-man at the 1977 World Championships, a silver in the two-man in 1978 and another silver at the 1978 European Championships in four-man.

After a serious bus accident Bethge retired from sports. He then became an assistant club coach in Oberhof, eventually coaching Wolfgang Hoppe, Christoph Langen and others. With the reunification of Germany in 1990, Bethge surprisingly was offered the job as the national bobsleigh coach. While visiting the Olympic track in Cesana on 30 November 2005 he was seriously injured, but the details are murky. He did not return to work until early 2007.

In Bethge’s tenure as head coach his bobsledders earned multiple medals at World and European Championships (52 gold, 36 silver and 38 bronze), and the skeleton pilots won 7 gold, 6 silver and 9 bronze. His bobsledders also won the team world title in 2007-09. In 2006 he was the first bobsleigh coach to be named Coach of the Year by the German Olympic Sports Federation. He retired in 2010, and was named an Honorary Member of the International Luge Federation. His half-brother Bernhard Hochwald was a sports shooter and took part in the Olympics in 1980, and 1998 to 1996.