Background
He grew up in Thurm which is next to Zwickau.
He grew up in Thurm which is next to Zwickau.
Riedel has the seventh longest discus throw of all-time with a personal best of 71.50m. Riedel began his discus career in the former German Democratic Republic. In 1983, he went to join South Carolina Karl-Marx-Stadt.
His first important competitions were the IAAF World Junior Championship in 1986 and the European Championship in 1990.
When the German Democratic Republic went down Riedel stopped training regularly. Soon after Riedel met his coach Karlheinz Steinmetz from University of Southern California Mainz he began training once again his sport career.
In the 1990s, he became a dominating figure on the German discus scene. With his good physical constitution (199 m, 115 kg) he took part in the Olympic Games of Atlanta.
They have a son, Robert.