Sabine Busch (later Ascui; born 21 November 1962, in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

) is a retired

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

athlete, who specialised in the 400 metres and the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

. In 1987, she became the

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

at 400 m hurdles and the World Indoor Champion at 400 m.

Biography

At the 1982 European Championships she finished fourth in the 400 m, before winning a gold medal in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

, together with teammates Kirsten Siemon, Dagmar Rubsam and Marita Koch. At the 1983 World Championships she finished fifth in her 400 m semifinal and was eliminated, but won another gold medal in the relay, with teammates

Gesine Walther Gesine Walther (born 6 October 1962) is a retired German sprinter. Biography In 1982 Walther became the first European indoor champion in the 200 m event. At the 1982 European Championships she finished fifth in the 100 m, fourth in th ...

, Koch and Rübsam. She ran her 400 m lifetime best of 49.24 in Erfurt, in June 1984, but was prevented from competing at the 1984 Olympics, due to the Eastern Bloc Boycott. Busch switched to the 400 m hurdles in 1985, with immediate success, winning the European Cup in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

in 54.13 secs, before breaking Margarita Ponomaryova's

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of 53.58, with 53.55 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in September.World Record Progression, 400 m. hurdles women
– The Athletics Site She ended the season by winning at the World Cup in Canberra in 54.44. Busch began 1986 by winning the 400 m title at the European Indoor Championships for the second time, having also won the 1985 Event. At the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart, she won a silver medal in the 400 m hurdles, losing to

Marina Stepanova Marina Ivanovna Stepanova (née Makeyeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Степанова-Макеева) born 1 May 1950) is a Russian former athlete who competed for the Soviet Union in the 400 metres hurdles, and became the first wom ...

, who in the process broke Busch's world record with 53.32, Busch ran 53.60. She won a gold medal in the relay with Emmelmann (Siemon), Petra Muller and Koch. In 1987, Busch won the 400 m title at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis. The highlight of her career came at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, where she won a clear victory in the 400 m hurdles in 53.62 secs, to become world champion. She won a second gold medal in the relay with Emmelmann, Neubauer (Rubsam) and Muller. At the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

she finished fourth in the final of the

400 m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

, being edged out of the bronze medal by her GDR teammate Ellen Fiedler (53.63 – 53.69). She did win a bronze medal in the relay alongside her teammates Neubauer, Emmelmann and Muller. In 1991, Busch represented a United Germany at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in Tokyo, where she was eliminated in the semi-finals in 55.93 secs. Busch's career best time at the 400 m hurdles was 53.24 seconds, achieved in August 1987 in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

. As of 2013, this is still the German record.Top 10 lists in German athletics
– Deutschen Leichtathletik-Verband Her personal best time in the 400 metres of 49.24 seconds, places her second on the German all-time list, only behind Marita Koch. On the world all-time lists, she ranks 16th at 400 m and 24th at 400 m hurdles. Busch represented the sports club SC Turbine Erfurt and was coached by Eberhard König.

References

External links

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Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Sabine 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Erfurt People from Bezirk Erfurt East German female hurdlers East German female sprinters Olympic athletes of East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for East Germany World Athletics Championships athletes for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) World record setters in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners