Heinz Kluetmeier Photo Credit: Witnify via YouTube

Heinz Kluetmeier, who shot more than 100 Sports Illustrated cover photos, including the iconic “Miracle on Ice” image, died Tuesday at age 82.

He had been dealing with complications from Parkinson’s disease and a stroke.

Kluetmeier’s most famous photo, showing the U.S. men’s hockey team celebrating after their win over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics, graced the cover on SI’s March 1980 issue.


“That’s the only cover we ever ran without cover language,” Kluetmeier told Sports Illustrated in 2008. “It didn’t need it. Everyone in America knew what happened.”

Born in Germany during World War II, Kluetmeier immigrated to the United States at age 9, and first picked up a camera at age 15, shooting Green Bay Packers games during the Vince Lombardi era.

After a stint at the Milwaukee Journal, he joined Time Inc., then-parent company of Sports Illustrated, in 1969. He leaves behind an impressive body of work, including this unusual image of Olympic great Michael Phelps.

Kluetmeier shot many other iconic photos, such as this image that everyone associates with the late Pete Rose.


Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim wrote in tribute to Kluetmeier, “Heinz took photos that no one even thought to take — much less were able to execute. He would find an angle no one had conceived. He would seize on a detail no one else would notice.”

Sports media and fans paid tribute to Kluetmeier on social media.

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.