His biggest success was when he won the world title in the decathlon at the 1987 World Championships in Rome as a representative for East Germany. He achieved a personal best score of 8680 points and was chosen as the East German sportsman of the year. In 1988 in the Seoul Summer Olympic Games he won the silver medal behind fellow East German, Christian Schenk.[1] His personal best of 8680 points ranks him sixth among German decathletes, behind Leo Neugebauer, Jürgen Hingsen, Uwe Freimuth, Siegfried Wentz and Frank Busemann.