Source: Markische Allgemeine | Translation: Fabian Doerfler | Sportscene - Kayaking star Ronald Rauhe has joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and could be running for state parliament in 2014.

Sport is his life. In his sporting career 31-year-old Ronald ‘Ronny’ Rauhe has achieved everything possible. He was Olympic champion in 2004, won a total of 13 world championship titles, and his partner Tim Wieskötter have been unbeatable for years in the K2 500 meters.

Now Rauhe has discovered a different sphere of activity - politics. The kayaking star has joined the SPD of Brandenburg and could be the next high flyer of regional politics.

“I have signed,” said Rauhe, a kayaker from the club of Potsdam, and laughed.

Of course he’s not a politician, but he is at least planning on contributing to politics.

“with everything that comes with it, I will have to allow for surprises”, says Rauhe who introduced himself to his new local branch of the SPD in Falkensee (Havelland).

He has indeed got a thirst for politics. However, being a newcomer he’s not planning on rushing ahead.

“At first I want to get a foothold within the party,” Rauhe emphasizes.

The athlete is unmarried but in a relationship with another Olympic champion, Fanny Fischer.

Why exactly the SPD, and not a different party?

“I consider the SPD’s work relatively convincing.”

Rauhe has met a lot of people in his sporting career and has made a good connection “with the people of the SPD” in particular, “even with the Premier,” he adds.

Rauhe has met Matthias Platzeck several times. He has even got a handle on the SPD-slogan “Brandenburg 2030.” He can identify with it very well. This does not mean that there’s no criticism at all.

“Of course there are some topics that need discussion and maybe change.”

Rauhe wanted to talk about that with his new partisans internally first.

Rauhe’s vision is aiming further. He is 31 years old today and wants to continue competing at the highest level in kayaking. It is still a lot of fun for him but he knows his sporting career will come to an end sooner or later.

The SPD of Falkensee has plenty in mind for Rauhe. They hope for a wind of change - particularly with regard to the federal state election in 2014. The prominent athlete is already seen as the candidate for their electoral district. Rauhe isn’t even averse to this idea.

On the contrary: “I can imagine myself doing that”, he says. First he wants to contribute to the local work of the party and he could not expect to be appointed to a higher position yet.

However considering a possible candidateship he states: “I would not say no.”

It would be a prestigious electoral district, recently won by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) two times in a row - 2004 and 2009. Both times the former Minister of Justice Barbara Richstein came out on top, most recently against the SPD’s Minister of Finance Rainer Speer. In 2010 Speer handed in his resignation after a failure to pay child support was made public. Since then the SPD has been looking for a promising substitute. Their target is clear: recapture the electoral district of today’s boom town Falkensee.

Even Richstein was a lateral entrant for the CDU. 14 years ago Jörg Schönbohm, the former party head, made Richstein come from Berlin to Brandenburg.

Facts about the athlete and the party:

31-year-old Ronald Rauhe has a remarkable track record: 28 international and 42 national titles. He has teamed up with Tim Wieskötter in K2 since 1999. They were Olympic champions in 2004 and were unbeaten at all international events from 2001 until the Olympics in 2008 when they were beaten by the Spanish team Saúl Craviotto and Carlos Pérez, with a margin of only 9 hundredths of a second.

Nationally Rauhe is the paddler with the most championship titles, a total number of 53.
However at the London Olympics Rauhe could not win a medal. In the K1 200m as well as in the K2 200m sprint (with his recent partner Jonas Ems) he finished 8th in the final. The 200 meter sprint disciplines have replaced the 500 meters in the Olympic program.

Rauhe is a sports soldier and his residence is in Falkensee (Havelland).

The number of SPD members in Brandenburg has been decreasing steadily. Officially there are 6,229 partisans today. In 2009, the year of the last state election, the count was 6,350.

Also read: Kayaker Josefa Idem in Italian Cabinet