Where are they now: Thomas Lange

It is over 40 years since Thomas Lange first burst on to the rowing scene, winning gold in the junior men’s double sculls at the 1980 World Rowing Junior Championships in Hazewinkel.

These days, Lange can be found either working wonders in his job as a plastic surgeon, or relaxing by the shore of the lake where he still rows.

Back then, his first international medal alongside doubles partner Roland Schroeder marked the start of a garlanded career. Lange would soon switch to the single scull and eventually become one of only six men to win medals in the blue riband event at three different Olympic Games.

“Once you figure out how it works, it’s a great feeling. I experienced that as a youth rower with the help of another rower. The feeling for the single has stayed with me to this day and I enjoy it,” Lange says of the single.

The Seoul 1988 Olympic Games was Lange’s first Olympics, representing East Germany. In the final he found himself lining up in lane 4, with West German Peter-Michael Kolbe in lane 3. Kolbe shot out of the blocks, but a devastating move from Lange halfway took him into the lead and he secured a five-second victory.

Looking back, Lange says Seoul remains one of his best rowing memories.

“The Olympic victory in 1988 rewarded a hard training and the long time of preparation, including the absence from my family,” he remembers, adding that racing Kolbe was “very emotional”.

Kolbe retired after Seoul, but Lange kept training – at the same time starting to study as a doctor. In 1991 East and West Germany reunited, and Lange won a second Olympic gold at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, this time for the Federal Republic of Germany.

After Barcelona, Lange’s focus turned more to his future, knowing rowing would not be a long-term career. He combined rowing with his medical studies, although he made a comeback to the international scene in 1995 and took bronze behind Switzerland’s Xeno Muller and Canada’s Derek Porter at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, cementing his place as one of the most decorated single scullers in history.

Off the water, medicine was Lange’s vocation and he followed his mother into the profession.

“At first, I started my training as a general practitioner. Then I got into surgery and finally I became a plastic surgeon and hand surgeon. I like the fact that I operate on different things every day,” he says.

But rowing remains very much a part of Lange’s life. He is the current chair of Ratzeburg RC in northern Germany.

“I try to row three times a week. Here in Ratzeburg we have ideal conditions for this. We live very close to the boathouse,” Lange explains.

“On Wednesdays, we often sit on the shore of the Küchensee after rowing. On Sundays we row an eight and occasionally I take part in regattas. I still like to row and stay fit that way,” he concludes.