Ingo Steuer

Ingo Steuer

Ingo Steuer
Personal information
Full name	Ingo Steuer
Country represented	Germany East Germany
Born	1 November 1966 (1966-11-01) Karl-Marx-Stadt
Residence	Chemnitz, Saxony
Height	5'8" (173 cm)
Partner	Mandy Wötzel
Former partner	Manuela Landgraf Ines Müller
Skating club	Eislaufverein Chemnitz
Retired	1998
Medal record Competitor for Germany Pairs' Figure skating Olympic Games Bronze 1998 Nagano Pairs World Championships Gold 1997 Lausanne Pairs Silver 1996 Edmonton Pairs Silver 1993 Prague Pairs European Championships Silver 1997 Paris Pairs Silver 1996 Sofia Pairs Gold 1995 Dortmund Pairs Silver 1993 Helsinki Pairs Grand Prix Final Silver 1997–1998 Tokyo Pairs Gold 1996–1997 Hamilton Pairs Bronze 1995–1996 Paris Pairs Competitor for East Germany World Junior Championships Gold 1984 Sapporo Pairs

Olympic medal record
Competitor for Germany
Pairs' Figure skating
Bronze	1998 Nagano	Pairs

Ingo Steuer (born 1 November 1966 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, Saxony, GDR/East Germany) is a German pair skater and skating coach.

With partner Mandy Wötzel, he was the 1998 Olympic bronze medalist the 1997 World champion, the 1995 European champion, and a four-time German national champion. As a coach, he has led Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany to multiple world and European titles.

Biography

Skating career

Steuer was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz), Saxony, and began to skate as a little child. His pair skating coach was Monika Scheibe. He skated for the club SC Karl-Marx-Stadt, which was renamed after the reunification into SC Chemnitz. Having been born in East Germany, he first represented East Germany and, after German reunification in 1990, the combined Germany.

In pair skating, Steuer first teamed up with Manuela Landgraf. They were the first Germans to win the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, doing so in 1984. After his split with Landgraf, he skated with Ines Müller for several years. Their best results were 7th places at the Europeans.

In 1992 Steuer again changed his skating partner and teamed up with Mandy Wötzel. They won medals at both Europeans and the World Championships in their first season together. The two competed at the 1994 Olympics, but were forced to withdraw during the long program after she tripped on a rut in the ice during their performance and suffered an injury.

Wötzel and Steuer became European champions in 1995 and World champions 1997. They both required knee surgery in 1997. Steuer was injured in a hit and run car accident in December 1997, and suffered partial tears to the ligaments in his right shoulder. He continued training despite the pain, and the pair were able to win the silver medal at the Champions Series Final. Steuer was taken to a local hospital following the event and was forced off the ice for several weeks, and he and Wötzel were unable to compete at the 1998 Europeans. They returned in time for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, where they won the bronze medal. Later that year, the two turned professional.

Coaching career

After his skating career ended, Steuer turned to coaching. He is currently a pair skating coach and choreographer based in Chemnitz. Among others, he has worked with the following pairs:

• Nicole Nönning & Matthias Bleyer (career finished 2004/2005)
• Eva-Maria Fitze & Rico Rex (switched to Monika Scheibe in Dec 2005)
• Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy (three-time World champions). Steuer has coached them since they teamed up in 2003.
• Tatiana Volosozhar & Stanislav Morozov (Ukraine): Steuer coached them from summer 2008 until Morozov's retirement following the 2010 Olympics, following which Volosozhar left to work with a new partner and coaching team.
• Rachel Kirkland & Eric Radford (Canada). This partnership eventually ended.
• Anaïs Morand & Antoine Dorsaz (Switzerland). Dorsaz retired in 2010; Morand now skates with Timothy Leeman.
• Daria Popova & Bruno Massot (2012 French champions). Steuer coaches the pair which formed in 2011 along with Jean-Francois Ballester.

Stasi activities and aftermath

In the 1980s, Ingo Steuer was an informant for the Stasi, the East German secret police. His activities included passing information on his fellow skaters. Because of this, he has been a controversial figure in Germany. Prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics, an investigation by the National Olympic Committee determined that his involvement was so severe as to exclude him from the national team. The matter eventually went to court, where a judge ruled in Steuer's favor. Still, at the 2006 Torino games, he was forbidden to wear the German team clothes. Savchenko and Szolkowy have been encouraged in the past to find a different coach, and Steuer was denied accreditation at several events. Savchenko and Szolkowy eventually went to court to appeal against this decision, and the judge ruled in their favor. Steuer was officially approved as their coach in 2007. At the 2010 Vancouver games, he was allowed to wear German team clothes and associate with the team.

In June 2010, the Frankfurt Landgericht rejected Steuer's lawsuit against the Bundeswehr, however, in March 2011, the Brandenburg Oberlandesgericht ruled in his favor; the Bundeswehr may appeal to the Federal Court of Justice of Germany.

Competitive highlights

(with Wötzel)

Event	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98
Winter Olympic Games		WD				3rd
World Championships	2nd	4th	5th	2nd	1st
European Championships	2nd	5th	1st	2nd	2nd
German Championships	1st		1st	1st	1st
Grand Prix Final				3rd	1st	2nd
Skate Canada	1st				1st
Trophée Lalique			3rd			2nd
Cup of Russia					1st
NHK Trophy			3rd	2nd
Nations Cup	1st	2nd	1st	2nd	1st	1st

• WD = Withdrew

(with Ines Müller)

Event	1988–1989	1989–1990	1990–1991
European Championships	7th	7th
German Championships			4th
East German Championships	3rd	3rd
Nations Cup			5th
Skate Canada International			5th

(with Manuela Landgraf)

Event	1983–1984	1984–1985	1985–1986
World Championships		8th	11th
World Junior Championships	1st
European Championships		5th	5th
East German Championships		2nd

External links

• http://www.pixeleis.de/ see ARI and than Ingo
• Sports Reference