Ulrich Wehling

Wehling retired from competition immediately following his third Olympic victory in Lake Placid. He became a member of the skiing association in East Germany in Berlin, a member of the National Olympic Committee in Germany, and held the post of president of the GDR ski federation.

Although he had been working in Berlin, he moved to Seftigen, Switzerland where, for the past ten years, he has been racing director of the International Skiing Federation (FIS), responsible for the Nordic Combined event. He said he does not plan to return to Berlin, and annually renews his permit to live in Switzerland.

In 2002, Ulrich Wehling was named to Bud Greenspan's list of the 25 Greatest Winter Olympians. Wehling is married and has two daughters.

In a 2002 interview to commemorate Wehling's 50th birthday, Ulrich Wehling spoke with Peter Stracke about his achievements in sport. On his 1972 visit to the Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, Wehling said he was a "nobody. I just was the last one who luckily qualified for the Olympic team, and nobody was expecting anything from me." He admitted, "I wasn't very good in training, but I always was a fighter. You can lose despite fighting. And you can lose because you resign. For me, success in sport always was a question of attitude."

Wehling noted that today, media interest and attendance for Nordic Combined events are growing, and world cup events have been popular. He plans to continue extending his permit to live in Switzerland, and does not plan to return home to Berlin, where he had a successful career as an operative of the skiing association in the German Democratic Republic.

Although his career was short, Ulrich Wehling earned his place in the history books as the first Winter Olympian to win three successive gold medals in the Nordic Combined skiing event.