His biggest success came at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States where he won the bronze medal.

His personal best throw was 81.32 metres, achieved in May 1986 in Paderborn.

This ranks him seventh among German hammer throwers, behind Ralf Haber, Heinz Weis, Karsten Kobs, Günther Rodehau, Holger Klose and Christoph Sahner.

[2] Ploghaus died on 11 January 2022, at the age of 65.

This article about an athletics Olympic medalist for Germany is a stub.