Dagmar Kersten (born 28 October 1970) is a German former gymnast. She represented East Germany at the 1988 Olympic Games, winning a silver medal on the uneven bars, and a bronze medal in the team event. In 1985, she won four medals at the World Championships, including silver on the bars and bronze in the all-around. She was awarded the

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

Career

Kersten won a bronze medal on the vault at the 1985 European Championships, where she also finished fifth in the all-around and sixth on the balance beam. At the 1985 World Championships in Montreal, she won a bronze medal in the team event, and a bronze medal in the all-around behind joint winners

Oksana Omelianchik Oksana Omelianchik (; ; alternative transliterations: Oksana Omel'yantchik, Oksana Omel'yanchik, Oksana Omeliantchik; born 2 January 1970) is a retired Soviet gymnast and the all-around gold medalist of the 1985 World Championships. Omelianchik ...

and

Elena Shushunova Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Raymond Elena (1931-2024), French former professional racing cyclist. * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine El ...

of the Soviet Union. She also made all four apparatus finals, winning silver on bars behind GDR teammate Gabriele Fahnrich, and a bronze on the vault. She was sixth on floor and eighth on beam. Without her knowledge, Kersten was part of the East German doping program. In 1985 she suffered a serious spine injury and had to stop training. As part of her recovery treatment she was prescribed

Oral Turinabol 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 (dehyd ...

, an anabolic steroid. Her physician, Dr. Bernd Pansold, was later convicted in 1998 for the procurement of drugs to minors. Before the 1988 Olympics she was administered other performance-enhancing drugs under disguise of nutrition supplements. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Kersten won two medals; bronze in the team event, followed by a silver medal on bars behind Romanian Daniela Silivas. She also finished sixth in the vault final and eighth in the all-around. After German reunification, Kersten moved to Stuttgart and worked at the Swabian Gymnastics Federation. Until 2002 she coached the German junior team. Later she worked as a speaker of the Lower Saxony Gymnastics Federation and a coach for an acrobatic show, which included her daughter Alina. She also holds second

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa ** Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

and teaches

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

at a

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

she founded in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

. Her son Erik is a taekwondo practitioner. Kersten has appeared as a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

. In 2022, Kersten launched a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

about her experience as a gymnast called ''Ausgeturnt – Noch Lange Nicht!'' (English: ''Far From Being Done With Gymnastics'').

Competitive history

References

External links

Dagmar Kersten
gymn-forum.net
Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kersten, Dagmar 1970 births Living people People from Altdöbern Sportspeople from Bezirk Cottbus German female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts from Brandenburg Olympic gymnasts for East Germany East German female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Olympic medalists in gymnastics World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver 20th-century German sportswomen SC Dynamo Berlin sportspeople German sports coaches Female sports coaches Gymnastics coaches