He also was on the 4 x 10 km teams that finished 7th at the 1968 Winter Olympics and 6th in 1972.
At the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Lesser was the second skier on the East German team that was in second place when he collided with a spectator, injured his knee, and had to abandon the race.
He is the grandfather of Erik Lesser, a biathlete who won a silver medal in the 20km individual event at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
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