Gunnar Ficker

Gunnar Ficker
Personal information
Full nameGunnar Ficker
Nationality Brazil
Born (1954-11-26) 26 November 1954
São Paulo, São Paulo
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight87 kg (192 lb)
Sailing career
ClassLightning
Medal record
Sailing
Representing  Brazil
World Championship
2011 Búzios Lightning
1983 Napoletani Lightning
1993 Ilhabela Lightning
Masters World Championship
2017 Salinas Lightning
Pan American Games
1983 Caracas Lightning
1995 Mar del Plata Lightning
1999 Winnipeg Lightning
2019 Lima Lightning
1987 Indianapolis Lightning
1991 Havana Lightning
2007 Rio Lightning
2011 Guadalajara Lightning
2015 Toronto Lightning

Gunnar Ficker (born 26 November 1954) is a Brazilian sailor. He won medals in nine Pan American Games almost consecutively, between 1983 and 2015 (with the exception of 2003, when there was no Lightning class), together with Cláudio Biekarck.[1][2]

Career

He started sailing when he was still a boy, at the Guarapiranga dam, in São Paulo. At 17, he was already world champion in the Penguin class, alongside Joaquim Doeding. The partnership with Cláudio Biekarck began in 1978, when Gunnar was 24 years old. Since then, they have always sailed together.[3][4]

Ficker obtained 9 medals in the Lightning class at Pan American Games: gold in Caracas 1983, silver in the Mar del Plata 1995, Winnipeg 1999 and Lima 2019 editions, and bronze in 5 editions: Indianapolis 1987, Havana 1991, Rio 2007, Guadalajara 2011 and Toronto 2015. There were 9 medals in 10 consecutive Pans, with the exception of 2003, when there was no Lightning class race.[5]

At the 2011 Lightning World Championship held in Búzios, he obtained the silver medal, and, at the 1993 Lightning World Championship held in Ilhabela, he obtained the bronze medal.[6]

References