Senior Sports Career
At the age of seventeen, he enjoyed immediate success, taking the bronze medal in the men's K-1 200 m World Championship final the same year.
Since 2000, the Rauhe/Wieskötter partnership has enjoyed unrivalled success, winning the major K-2 500 m race every year (six world titles and the 2004 Olympic gold). The pair have also won seven straight European championships over 500 m.
Rauhe also dominated the K-1 200 m individual sprint, winning three consecutive golds in both the world and European championships before losing out to Spain's Carlos Pérez in 2005.
If Rauhe's rivals hoped this marked the beginning of a decline in the German's fortunes they were to be disappointed. In 2006 Rauhe was back on top form and won more titles than ever before. At the European Championships in Račice, Czech Republic he won three gold medals, retaining his K-2 500 m title, regaining the K-1 200 m crown from Pérez and winning the K-2 200 m for the first time in his career.
These three victories were repeated at the World Championships in Szeged, Hungary. Rauhe's dominance was best illustrated by his victory in the K-2 200 m final in a race that was scheduled just twenty minutes after his K-1 final (and against a field of rested opponents none of whom had competed in the earlier race).
At the World Championships in his home-country Germany in 2007 he and his partner Tim Wieskötter won again the K-2 500 m and came second in the K-2 200 m.
On national level he has won 50 national titles at the German Championships. His 50th title were the 500 m in the K-1 on 2 May 2009 in Duisburg.
Read more about this topic: Ronald Rauhe
Famous quotes containing the words senior, sports and/or career:
“Never burn bridges. Today’s junior prick, tomorrow’s senior partner.”
—Kevin Wade, U.S. screenwriter, and Mike Nichols. Katharine Parker (Sigourney Weaver)
“It was so hard to pry this door open, and if I mess up I know the people behind me are going to have it that much harder. Because then there’s living proof. They can sit around and say, “See? It doesn’t work.” I don’t want to be their living proof.”
—Gayle Gardner, U.S. sports reporter. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 87 (June 17, 1991)
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)