Background
Beyer was born in Timmendorf near Kiel and represented the sports clubs Holstein Kiel, Bayer Leverkusen and University of Southern California Mainz.
Beyer was born in Timmendorf near Kiel and represented the sports clubs Holstein Kiel, Bayer Leverkusen and University of Southern California Mainz.
Beyer suffered a fatal heart attack while playing tennis in the Turkish beach resort of Belek, possibly as a delayed result of the use of anabolic steroids throughout his career, to which he freely admitted in a 1981 interview.
Beyer won the bronze medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, representing the United Team of Germany, and later finished fourth at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich representing West Germany. He won the gold medal at the 1971 European Championships and finished fifth at the 1974 European Championships.
