Origins & Early Life

Hans Günter Winkler (German pronunciation: [ˈhans ˈɡʏntɐ ˈvɪŋklɐ] ; 24 July 1926 – 9 July 2018) was a German show jumper. He is the only show jumper to have won five Olympic gold medals and a total of seven Olympic medals, and to compete and win medals in six different Olympic Games. In the 1950s and 1960s Winkler was one of Germany's most popular athletes. Winkler was born in Barmen, today part of Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the son of a riding teacher.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His father, Paul Winkler, died as a soldier during the last week of World War II. The boy was drafted as a Flakhelfer and was a prisoner of war for a short time. The house of his mother in Frankfurt was destroyed by bombing. He made money, to support his mother and himself, as a groom in the stable of the Landgravine of Hesse in Kronberg im Taunus. He was also a riding teacher of the Americans who occupied the area.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

He began an apprenticeship in a textile store in Frankfurt in 1948. Winkler participated in show jumping competitions and won for the first time on 10 October 1948, in Hünfeld, on Falkner. A new Olympic Committee for Riding (DOKR) was founded in 1949 by Gustav Rau, who moved it to Warendorf....

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