 Lesser finished 6th in the 15 km event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.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.