Kristin Otto

Kristin Otto
Otto in 1986
Personal information
Full nameKristin Otto
NationalityGerman
Born (1966-02-07) 7 February 1966
Leipzig, Bezirk Leipzig, East Germany
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight70 kg (154 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
Strokesfreestyle, butterfly, backstroke
ClubSportclub Deutsche Hochschule
für Körperkultur Leipzig
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  East Germany
Olympic Games
1988 Seoul 50 m freestyle
1988 Seoul 100 m freestyle
1988 Seoul 100 m butterfly
1988 Seoul 100 m backstroke
1988 Seoul 4 × 100 m freestyle
1988 Seoul 4 × 100 m medley
World Championships (LC)
1982 Guayaquil 100 m backstroke
1982 Guayaquil 4 × 100 m medley
1982 Guayaquil 4 × 100 m freestyle
1986 Madrid 100 m freestyle
1986 Madrid 200 m medley
1986 Madrid 4 × 100 m freestyle
1986 Madrid 4 × 100 m medley
1986 Madrid 50 m freestyle
1986 Madrid 100 m butterfly
European Championships (LC)
1983 Rome 4 × 100 m freestyle
1983 Rome 4 × 200 m freestyle
1987 Strasbourg 100 m freestyle
1987 Strasbourg 100 m backstroke
1987 Strasbourg 100 m butterfly
1987 Strasbourg 4 × 100 m freestyle
1987 Strasbourg 4 × 100 m medley
1989 Bonn 100 m backstroke
1989 Bonn 4 × 100 m medley
1983 Rome 100 m freestyle
1989 Bonn 200 m backstroke
Friendship Games
1984 Moscow 100 m freestyle
1984 Moscow 200 m freestyle
1984 Moscow 4 × 100 m freestyle
1984 Moscow 100 m backstroke
1984 Moscow 200 m backstroke

Kristin Otto (German pronunciation: [ˈkʁɪstɪn ˈʔɔtoː] ⓘ; born 7 February 1966)[1] is a former East German swimmer, becoming Olympic, World and European champion, multiple times. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.[2][3] In long course, she held the world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle events. Otto was also the first woman to swim the short course 100 meter backstroke in under a minute,[2] doing so at an international short course meet at Indiana University in 1983.[4]

Career

Otto was born in Leipzig, Bezirk Leipzig (present-day Sachsen), East Germany, and began swimming at the age of 11, training in an East German sports academy. At sixteen, she participated in her first world championships, the 1982 World Aquatics Championships, winning the gold medal in the 100 meter backstroke as well as two additional gold medals in the 4×100 m relays with the East German team.

After 1982, Otto changed coaches and began concentrating on other speed strokes. At the following European Championships in 1983, Otto finished second in the 100 meter freestyle, following her fellow East German, Birgit Meineke.

In 1984, Otto set a world record in the 200 meter freestyle. She was expected to win gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, but was unable to compete due to the boycott by 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including East Germany. In 1985 she fractured a vertebra, keeping her from competing for most of the year or to go to the European Championships.

Otto returned to competitive swimming at the 1986 World Championships in Madrid, where she won 4 gold medals (100 m freestyle, 200 m individual medley, 4×100 m medley relay and 4×100 m freestyle relay) and 2 silver medals (50 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly). Her success continued the following year at the 1987 European Championships where she won 5 gold medals.

At the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games she once again was expected to win Olympic gold. She won six gold medals, as well as setting Olympic records in the 50 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly.[1][5]

Otto retired from swimming in 1989.[6] She currently works as a sports reporter for German television.

She was named the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 1984, 1986 and 1988 by Swimming World. In October 1986, she was awarded a Star of People's Friendship in gold (second class) for her sporting success.[7]

Otto's career was marred by the revelations of widespread performance-enhancing drugs used by East German athletes: former teammate Petra Schneider openly admitted that she had used banned substances. However, Otto stated that she was not aware that she was being doped and she passed all the doping tests during competition, saying: "The medals are the only reminder of how hard I worked. It was not all drugs."[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kristin Otto Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Otto, Kristin." Chambers Biographical Dictionary. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 2 July 2011.
  3. ^ "1988." The Hutchinson Chronology of World History. Abington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 2 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Swim Mark for East German". New York Times. 9 January 1983. p. A3.
  5. ^ "Swimming and Diving-Women." World Almanac & Book of Facts (2008): 868–869. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Swimmer to Retire". The New York Times. 19 November 1989. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
  7. ^ "Hohe staatliche Auszeichnungen verliehen" [Awarded high state awards]. Neues Deutschland (in German). Vol. 42, no. 243. 15 October 1986. p. 6. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  8. ^ Lord, Craig (7 March 2006). Germans bid to purge themselves from their doping past. The Times. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.
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