Jochen Förster

Whitewater slalom singles appeared for the first time at the Olympics at the 1972 München Olympics, where canoe slalom events were held on the canoe slalom course of Augsburg (and for the last time until 1992). West Germany’s Reinhold Kauder was the reigning C-1 World Champion, but East German Reinhard Eiben, however, was in first after run one, with Kauder in second and only 0.39 points behind, and another East German, Jochen Förster in third. Eiben recorded an even better score in the second run to earn a well-deserved gold medal, while Kauder failed to improve upon his point total and was forced to settle for silver. Förster fell out of the podium places and finished an unfortunate fourth.

Förster won three medals of each color at World Championships with the C-1 team: one gold in 1971, one silver in 1965, and one bronze in 1967. Domestically, he won East German titles in 1967, 1970, and 1971, also with SC DHfK Leipzig the team titles in 1965, 1966, 1969, and 1972. Förster later studied boat construction in Leipzig and was responsible for the construction of high performance canoes in former GDR. He then became CEO of Halle-Saale Faltbootbau until reunification.