Kristin Otto (; born 7 February 1966) is a German Olympic swimming champion. 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.Otto, Kristin.
Chambers Biographical Dictionary. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007. ''Credo Reference''. Web. 2 July 2011. In

long course An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

, she held the world records in the

100 meter The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200 meter The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

freestyle events. Otto was also the first woman to swim the

short course In swimming, the term short course (abbreviated SC) is used to identify a pool that is in length. The term is also often included in meet names when conducted in a short course pool. "Short course" is the second type of pool configuration curren ...

100 meter backstroke in under a minute, doing so at an international short course meet at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

in 1983.

Career

Otto was born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, Bezirk Leipzig (present-day

Sachsen Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

), East Germany, and began swimming at the age of 11, training in an

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 ...

sports academy. At sixteen, she participated in her first world championships, the

1982 World Aquatics Championships The 4th FINA World Aquatics Championships took place from July 29-August 8, 1982, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. They featured 848 athletes, competing in four Aquatics disciplines: *Diving - 4 events (2 male, 2 female); *Swimming - 29 events (15 male, 14 ...

, 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

, 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 The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, but was unable to compete due to the

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict so ...

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. Otto retired from swimming in 1989. 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 ''Swimming World'' is a US-based monthly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'', (known ...

''. In October 1986, she was awarded a

Star of People's Friendship The Star of People's Friendship (german: Stern der Völkerfreundschaft), Star of Nations' Friendship, was an order awarded by the German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Ge ...

in gold (second class) for her sporting success. Otto's career was marred by the revelations of widespread performance-enhancing drugs used by East German athletes: former teammate

Petra Schneider Petra Schneider (born 11 January 1963 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, now Chemnitz) is a former medley and freestyle swimmer from East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s. She won an Olympic gold medal in the 400 m individual medley at the 1980 Summer Ol ...

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."Lord, Craig (7 March 2006)
Germans bid to purge themselves from their doping past
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto, Kristin 1966 births Living people Swimmers from Leipzig People from Bezirk Leipzig East German female swimmers German female freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers of East Germany Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany World record setters in swimming Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics German female butterfly swimmers German female medley swimmers German female backstroke swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming German sports journalists German sports broadcasters European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold ZDF people ZDF heute presenters and reporters

Career

See also

References

External links