Udo Beyer

{{Infobox sportsperson

| nationality=

| image=Bundesarchiv Bild 183-Z0810-022, Udo Beyer.jpg

| caption=Beyer in 1981

| name = Udo Beyer

|years_active =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1955|08|09}}

| birth_place = Stalinstadt, East Germany

| country = {{ubl|East Germany (1973–1990)|Germany (1991–1992)}}

| sport = Athletics

| turnedpro =

| retired =

| event = Shot put

| club = ASK Vorwärts Potsdam

| height = {{height|ft=6|in=4+1/2}}

| weight = {{convert|135|kg|lb|abbr=on}}

| headercolor = lightsteelblue

| show-medals = yes

| pb = 22.64 m (1986)

| medaltemplates =

{{Medal|Country | {{GDR}} }}

File:Olympic rings.svg

{{Medal|Country | {{GDR}} }}

}}

Udo Beyer (born 9 August 1955) is a former East German track and field athlete who competed in the shot put. Beyer has admitted to knowingly taking part in doping while he competed for East Germany. He was a Stasi informer under the codename "Kapitän".

Biography

Beyer is the oldest of the six children of heating mechanic Hans-Georg Beyer and his wife Eva-Marie and was born in Stalinstadt, today Eisenhüttenstadt. He grew up in Breslack, (today the municipality of Neißemünde), and in Eisenhüttenstadt. Like all of his siblings, he played handball at the local sport club. He was a member of the team representing the district in Frankfurt where he became a successful goalkeeper. On the advice of his father he decided to pursue a sporting career, concentrating on athletics. After the youth tournament in 1969, he changed to the youth sports school in Frankfurt (Oder), where he earned his Abitur. At the same time he became a member of ASK Vorwärts Frankfurt.

In 1970 Ernst Kühl became his trainer, himself a successful shot putter and discus thrower for East Germany. Kühl had taken part in the 1960 and 1964 unified German team at the Summer Olympic games. In 1973 Beyer changed clubs as well as coaches moving to ASK Vorwärts Potsdam under Lothar Hillebrand. In Potsdam he concentrated solely on the shot put and began also studying at the University to become a physical education teacher. As a member of the Army sports club (ASK) Beyer was also a sports officer of the NVA and had also become Hauptmann (Captain) in the Bundeswehr. His sport career was essentially over after the 1988 Summer Olympic games, but his wife was able to convince him in 1990 to continue until 1992.

For many years, Beyer was captain of the East German athletics national team.

At a height of 1.94 meters, he weighed 130 kilograms. Even for a shot putter, Beyer was exceptionally strong.

At the end of his sport career, Beyer started work as a travel agent and has owned a travel agency in Potsdam since 1996. He lives in Potsdam and has been married since 1976 and has had two daughters, one of whom died as a child.

All of his siblings were very active in sports. At the Summer Olympics of 1980 in Moscow, Udo was with his sister Gisela Beyer and his brother Hans-Georg Beyer. All three reached their respective final rounds: Hans-Georg was Olympic champion with his handball team, Udo was third in the shot put and Gisela was fourth in the discus. His sister Gudrun was also with him at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, as a physical therapist.

Since 2004 Beyer is also the "Chocolate Ambassador" for Germany's oldest chocolate factory, Halloren of Halle (Saale). He is also very active as an official representative for the "children's hospice of middle Germany" for terminally ill children and their families.

Beyer has admitted to knowingly taking part in doping while he competed for East Germany – which had a systematic doping program for its top athletes in the 1970s. His admission came in the documentary film The Lone Wolf, which was first shown in the 2013 Berlin Film Festival.{{cite news |title=1976 Olympic gold medalist Udo Beyer admits to doping during Games |first=Houston |last=Mitchell |url=http://www.latimes.com/la-sp-sn-1976-olympics-udo-beyer-doping-20130214,0,2343181.story |work=Los Angeles Times |date=14 February 2013 |access-date=15 February 2013}}[http://tracking.si.com/2013/02/14/udo-beyer-doping-shot-put-olympics/ Former Olympic Shot Put Champion, Udo Beyer, Admits to Doping] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221052326/http://tracking.si.com/2013/02/14/udo-beyer-doping-shot-put-olympics/ |date=21 February 2013 }}; 14 February 2013 news item in Sports Illustrated SI.com; accessed 20 March 2013.