Werner Potzernheim

Werner Potzernheim ( born March 8, 1927 in Hamburg ) is a former German racing cyclist.

Even as a twelve- year-old Werner drove Potzernheim his first race, inspired by his keen on cycling grandfather, a sea captain. Already at this time, his goal was to become a professional; However, at first he did an apprenticeship as a machinist, then he was drafted into the Wehrmacht. But in 1946 he played 15 road and track racing. 1950 moved Potzernheim, until then a member of the RV " sprint " Hamburg, Hannover, inter alia because he truly appreciated the local velodrome and there were no more in Hamburg. He was a member of the "RC Diamond Hannover ", the predecessor of today's club "RC Blue-Yellow Langenhagen ", and remained so until today. At first he lived in a pacemaker cabin on the velodrome in Hanover until he could afford his own apartment.

Werner Potzernheim was in the 1950s and 1960s, the most successful German sprinter on the track and is still regarded as the most successful racing cyclist from Lower Saxony. Between 1955 and 1965 Potzernheim alone was five times German champion in the sprint of the amateurs as well as ten times in the pros and was therefore regarded as a German " flyer king". Between 1951 and 1964 he took part in multiple UCI Track World Championships.

At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki Werner Potzernheim won the bronze medal in the sprint. When he few days later, arrived together with the third- placed finisher in the road race, Edi Ziegler at the station in Hanover, the two athletes were conducted in collaboration with their supervisor Matze Schmidt in a triumphal procession through the town and cheered by thousands of people. In October Potzernheim received the " Silver Laurel Leaf " from the hand of German President Theodor Heuss. The following year, he finished at the Track World Championships in Zurich to third place in the sprint.

In 1965, Potzernheim from active cycling back, first took over a gas station and later worked in the bicycle industry. He was also coach of the " cycling community Hannover " as well as supervisor of the train driver in the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft cycling ".

For his services to the sport in Lower Saxony, he was in the gallery of honor of Lower Saxony Sports - since 1988 Honorary Portal - the Lower Saxony Institute for Sports History recorded.

Footnotes

Swell

• Portrait on radsportverband.de (Version of 3 September 2002 on the Internet Archive )
• Walter Euhus: spoke sport. Hanover's historic cycling, Langenhagen 2001, pp. 194-205