He won in 1972 with the “Gold Foursome”
German Olympic track cycling champion Haritz dies
October 29, 2025 – 3:06 p.mReading time: 1 min.
He was crowned Olympic champion in Munich in 1972. Now ex-track cyclist Günter Haritz has died – he had cancer.
German cycling mourns the loss of Olympic champion Günter Haritz. The former track cyclist, who raced to Olympic victory in Munich in 1972 as a member of the “Gold Four”, succumbed to cancer on Wednesday night. This was announced by the German Association German Cycling. Haritz was 77 years old.
The Heidelberg native was one of the most successful track cyclists in Germany in the 1970s. In addition to the Olympic victory alongside Jürgen Colombo, Udo Hempel, Günther Schumacher and Peter Vonhof, Haritz won the world title in the team pursuit in 1970 and 1973.
After his second World Cup victory in 1973, the “Blitz from Leimen” became a professional. He started in 83 six-day races and won eleven of them. In 1976 he celebrated the European championship title in two-man team driving alongside René Pijnen. In 1974 Haritz also won the German road championship. In 1972 he was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf, and a year later the foursome was voted team of the year.