Thomas Zereske

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Thomas Zereske
Medal record
Men's canoe sprint
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1997 Dartmouth C-2 200 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1998 Szeged C-2 200 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1990 Poznań C-1 500 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1995 Duisburg C-1 200 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1995 Duisburg C-2 200 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1990 Poznań C-1 1000 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1991 Paris C-4 500 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1997 Dartmouth C-2 500 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Szeged C-2 500 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1999 Milan C-2 200 m

Thomas Zereske (22 May 1966 – 28 June 2004) [1] was a German, originally East German, former sprint canoeist who competed from 1988 to 2000. [1] [2]

Contents

Sporting career

Zereske won ten medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with two gold medals (C-2 200 m: 1997, 1998), three silver medals (C-1 200 m: 1995, C-1 500 m: 1990, C-2 200 m: 1990), and five bronze medals (C-1 1000 m: 1990, C-2 200 m: 1999, C-2 500 m: 1997, 1998; C-4 500 m: 1991). [2]

Competing in three Summer Olympics, Zereske earned his best finish of fifth place three times (C-1 500 m: 1996 for Germany, C-2 500 m: 1988 for East Germany, 2000 for Germany). [1]

As the German national championships, Zereske won two C-1 200 m, three C-2 200 m, and four C-4 200 m titles. [3] He also won national championship in C-1 500 m three times and C-1 10000 m once. [4] Zereske earned a German national championship in the C-2 500 m event in 1997. [5]

Coaching career

After Zereske retired from canoeing, he became a coach of the German Dragon Boat racing national team. [6] As a coach, his teams won a complete set of medals in 2002 with a gold in the women's 500 m, a silver in the men's 500 m, and a bronze in the men's 250 m; and two silver medals in 2003. [6] The 2003 silvers were in the men's 500 m and women's 500 m events. [6]

Death

A native of Neubrandenburg, [1] Zereske died of leukemia in 2004. [7] Zereske had only been diagnosed with leukemia five days prior to his death. [6] His former canoeing partner Christian Gille wore a black armband in honor of Zereske during the 2004 Summer Olympic sprint canoeing events. [8] After Gille and his current teammate won the gold in the C-2 1000 m event at those games, Gille dedicated the medal to his fallen teammate. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sports-reference.com profile. Retrieved on January 1, 2009.
  2. 1 2 ICF medalists for Olympic and World Championships - Part 1: flatwater (now sprint): 1936-2007 Archived 2010-01-05 at the Wayback Machine .
  3. ↑ German sprint canoe national champions: 1995-2003. (in German) - accessed January 2, 2009.
  4. ↑ German national champions in C-1: 1919-2003. (in German) - accessed January 2, 2009.
  5. ↑ German national champions in C-2: 1919-2003. (in German) - accessed January 2, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 German Wikipedia article on Zereske. (in German) - accessed January 2, 2009.
  7. 1 2 Sportsinteractive.net August 27, 2004 results on the previous day's canoe sprint (then flatwater racing) final mentioning Zereske Archived May 14, 2005, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on January 1, 2009.
  8. ↑ Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Canoeing: Men's Canadian Pairs 1000 Meters." In The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 484.
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