Christina Lathan (née Brehmer; born 28 February 1958) is a retired

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

sprinter who specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. Born in

Altdöbern Altdöbern (Lower Sorbian language, Lower Sorbian ''Stara Darbnja'') is a municipality in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Altdöbern lies in Lower Lusatia, but is not part of its Sorbs, sorbian in ...

, Brehmer started training in 1969 at the sports club SG Dynamo Senftenberg, and was transferred to

SC Dynamo Berlin The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was the largest sports club of SV Dynamo, the sports association of the security agencies. The club was reformed after German reunification and succe ...

in 1973. At the 1975 European Junior Championships she won three

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 ...

s, in 400 m,

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

and

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

. In 1976 she set world record 49.77 seconds, first electronic time under 50 seconds. The record was broken by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Irena Szewińska Irena Szewińska (née Kirszenstein; Polish pronunciation: ; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polish sprinter who was one of the world's foremost track athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events. She won a total of seven Olympic ...

a month later. At the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

she won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 400 m behind Irena Szewinska, as well as a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay with her teammates Brigitte Rohde, 400 m

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

ist Ellen Streidt and Doris Maletzki. The next year Lathan won another relay gold medal at the IAAF World Cup 1977. At the 1978 European Championships she won a silver medal in the individual event and another gold medal in 4 × 400 m relay, together with teammates Christiane Marquardt, Barbara Krug and

Marita Koch Marita Koch (later Meier-Koch; born 18 February 1957) is a German former Sprint (running), sprint track and field athlete. During her career she set 16 List of world records in athletics, world records in outdoor sprints as well as 14 world re ...

. She then duplicated her World Cup success at the

1979 IAAF World Cup The 2nd IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on August 24–26, 1979, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Overall re ...

. She returned to the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

and won a bronze medal in the 400 m behind Marita Koch and

Jarmila Kratochvílová Jarmila Kratochvílová (; born 26 January 1951 in Golčův Jeníkov) is a Czechoslovak former track and field athlete. She won the 400 metres and 800 metres at the 1983 World Championships, setting a world record in the 400 m. In 1983, she s ...

. In the 4 × 400 m relay she was the sole survivor of the 1976 winning team and could only win the silver medal with her teammates

Gabriele Löwe Gabriele Löwe ( Kotte; born 12 December 1958, in Dresden) is a retired East Germany, East German sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. At the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow she finished sixth in the 400 metres and won a silver medal in t ...

, Barbara Krug and Marita Koch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lathan, Christina 1958 births Living people People from Altdöbern Sportspeople from Bezirk Cottbus East German female sprinters Athletes from Brandenburg Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver FISU World University Games bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters SC Dynamo Berlin athletes East German Athletics Championships winners