Christian Schenk (; born 9 February 1965 in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

) is a former decathlete who competed for East Germany and Germany. He won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

, held in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Schenk also won a bronze medal at the

1991 World Championships in Athletics The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1. 1517 athletes from 167 countries partic ...

in Tokyo. He missed the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

in Barcelona because of an injury and came fourth in the

1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations. Having or ...

in Stuttgart. His personal best was 8500 points, achieved in August 1993 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. This ranks him ninth among German decathletes, behind Jürgen Hingsen, Uwe Freimuth, Siegfried Wentz,

Frank Busemann Frank Busemann (; born 26 February 1975 in Recklinghausen) is a former German decathlete. He currently works as a pundit for athletics coverage by German TV channel Das Erste. Busemann started his career as a 110 m hurdler and was junior worl ...

, Torsten Voss, Guido Kratschmer, Paul Meier and Siegfried Stark. Schenk cleared in the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

to share the World Decathlon Best in high jump with Rolf Beilschmidt, until the Canadian Olympic high jump gold medalist

Derek Drouin Derek Drouin (born March 6, 1990) is a Canadian track and field athlete who competes in the high jump. He won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and was the 2015 World Champion. He also won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 Pan A ...

improved the record by 1 centimeter in an decathlon competition in 2017. Schenk was noted for his use of the old-fashioned

straddle technique The straddle technique was the dominant style in the high jump before the development of the Fosbury Flop. It is a successor of the Western roll, for which it is sometimes confused. Unlike the scissors or flop style of jump, where the jumper ...

, at a time when the

Fosbury flop The Fosbury flop is a jumping style used in the track and field event of high jump. It was popularized and perfected by American athlete Dick Fosbury, whose gold medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City brought it to the world's attention. ...

had become almost universal in competitive high jumping. He retired in 1994. In August 2018, Schenk confessed that he had used

chlorodehydromethyltestosterone Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (CDMT; brand name Oral Turinabol), also known as 4-chloro-17β-hydroxy17α-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one, is an anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS). It is the 4-chloro-substituted derivative of metandienone (dehy ...

during his career, his voluntary doping confession was greeted as a positive signal by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

Personal bests

References

External links

* * * 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Rostock East German decathletes Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for East Germany Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Germany Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Bezirk Rostock {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub