Ralf-Peter Hemmann was a member of the silver medal winning East German men’s gymnastics team at the 1980 Moskva Olympics. Individually, he reached the apparatus finals in horse vault and horizontal bar, placing an unfortunate fourth in both events. At the 1978 World Championships he earned a team bronze medal. His greatest moment came at the 1981 Moskva Worlds when he won gold in the vault.
In 1978-80 Hemmann won the East German nationals on parallel bars, also winning in 1978 on horizontal bar and 1981 on rings. At those Worlds he also had a positive doping test and was withdrawn from the competition, but the case was never publicized and Hemmann was not informed by officials, only to be told six months later by GDR sports officials that his sports career was finished. By profession Hemmann became a car mechanic.