 Drehmel first tried his hand at the javelin throw and the decathlon before switching to the triple jump in 1966.His first big success came with a win at the European Cup in 1970, where he was the first German jumper to set a record with the first-ever jump over 17 meters.His jump of 17.16 meters to win the European Championship in 1971 did not qualify as a record due to excessive tail wind.