First German cross-country skiing world champion Grimmer dead

The first German cross-country skiing world champion Gerhard Grimmer is dead. The Thuringian double world champion died last Monday after a serious illness at the age of 80, as the Deutsche Presse-Agentur learned from the family. This Friday, cross-country skiing fans will be able to say goodbye to Grimmer at the funeral service in the church of his home community of Seligenthal.

A native of Sudetenland, Grimmer was Germany's first cross-country skiing world champion. In 1974, he won at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden, over the distance of 50 kilometers. He then followed that up with gold in the 4x10-kilometer relay and silver in the 15-kilometer event. Grimmer won 17 GDR championship titles and took part in three Olympic Winter Games from 1968 in Grenoble to 1972 in Sapporo and 1976 in Innsbruck. In 1970 and 1971 he won the 50 kilometer event at Holmenkollen in Oslo. In 1975, he received the Holmenkollen medal before ending his active career a year later.