Lutz Hoffmann was an East German gymnast

Artistic gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics where gymnasts perform short routines on different apparatus, with less time for vaulting . The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique , which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite...

 and Olympic silver medal

Silver medal

A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

ist.

Early life and training

Lutz Hoffmann was born in Weißenfels

Weißenfels

Weißenfels is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle.-History:...

, East Germany in 1959. He began gymnastics training at the age of five. Beginning in 1976, he trained with the SC Dynamo Berlin

SC Dynamo Berlin

The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was a training center for the Sports Club Dynamo .-Sporting spectrum:...

. His brother Ulf Hoffmann

Ulf Hoffmann

Ulf Hoffmann is a German/East German gymnast who won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.He competed for the SC Dynamo Berlin/ Sportvereinigung Dynamo....

 was likewise a successful gymnast. In their youth, they shared a boarding school room during their time with SC Synamo Berlin.

Career

In 1979 Hoffmann became GDR master in floor gymnastics

Floor (gymnastics)

In gymnastics, the floor refers to a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The event in gymnastics performed on floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is FX.A spring...

, and became the second in vault gymnastics

Vault (gymnastics)

The vault is an artistic gymnastics apparatus, as well as the skill performed using that apparatus. Vaulting is also the action of performing a vault. Both male and female gymnasts perform the vault...

. At the world championships in the same year he won fourth place with the team. He celebrated his largest success with the team when they won the silver medal at the 1980 Olympic Games

1980 Summer Olympics

The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...

 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. At those games, they also took seventh in the multi-fight and sixth in floor. At the 1981 European championship, they won the bronze medal in floor again.

Later life and death

After his career with SC Dynamo Berlin, he went to DHfK. Later he became a coach at the sports club.

Hoffman became a teacher in Bad Sachsa

Bad Sachsa

Bad Sachsa is a town in the district of Osterode, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 15 km south of Braunlage, and 25 km southeast of Osterode am Harz. It is well known for being the town where Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg and his four...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, where he committed suicide in 1997.