German Olympic Champion Loses Fight with Anorexia

Seoul Olympic men’s eight gold medallist Bahne Rabe has died after a battle with anorexia, a German newspaper reported on Sunday.

Rabe died on August 5 in Kiel, Germany, two days before his 38th birthday.

He had been suffering from the condition for several months and was struck down by a lung infection that his weakened body was unable to fight.

The 2,03m tall German Olympian had been 190 pounds during his years in competition, but had dropped down to 120 in the past few weeks.

After his victory in Seoul in 1988, Rabe won gold in the men’s coxless four in Vienna in 1991 and bronze in the men’s eight at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

He retired from rowing before the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 when he saw that he was unlikely to qualify.

According to the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, after ten years under strict training regime, with yearly goals to achieve, Rabe found it hard to manage his everyday life on his own.

He had always been very aware of his body but in the past year had started to lose weight dramatically and visited a clinic in March for the first time.

Rabe’s father told the newspaper that he thought sports federations should do more to support athletes after they had finished competing at the top level.

He said they needed to realise that athletes such as his son should not only be accompanied to the top of their success, but also back into normality. They should receive much more help to settle in to every day life again.

German rowing federation sports director Michael Mueller said today that Rabe’s death was a tragedy.

FISA extends its deepest condolences to Bahne Rabe’s family and friends.