Günter Perleberg

East German flatwater canoer Günter Perleberg was part of the gold medal winning 4 x 500 kayak relay together with Dieter Krause from East Germany, and Paul Lange and Friedhelm Wentzke from West Germany, which was the only mixed German team between 1956 and 1964 equally represented by West and East German athletes.

Perleberg won two medals for East Germany at the World Championships in 1963 (K4 1,000 gold, relay bronze). In 1959, 1961 and 1963 he won European titles in the K4. In 1957, 1959, 1960, and 1962 he claimed East German national titles in K2 500.

On the last day of the 1963 World Championships Perleberg fled from Jajce in Yugoslavia via Austria to Hannover in West Germany, where his pregnant girlfriend lived. During the qualification races for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics his presence led to a dispute between the East German and the West German delegations. The races had been scheduled for East Berlin, but Perleberg could not travel to East Germany. On the interference and advice of IOC President Avery Brundage the races were scheduled with Perleberg in Berlin-Grünau (West Berlin), and without him in Magdeburg (East Germany) and Duisburg (West Germany).

Perleberg then qualified for the 1964 Games with the West German team and earned another silver medal in the K4 1,000, which earned him the Silver Bay Leaf, the highest sports award in West Germany. By profession, Perleberg was a construction engineer.