Kathrin Wessel (née Ullrich; born 14 August 1967) is a retired

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

long-distance runner who specialized in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

. She was the 1987 World Championship bronze medallist, the 1990 European Championship silver medallist, and won the 1989 World Cup title. She also competed at three

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

( Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, and Atlanta 1996).

Biography

Wessel was born in

Annaberg-Buchholz Annaberg-Buchholz () is a town in Saxony, in eastern Germany. Lying in the Ore Mountains, it is the capital of the district of Erzgebirgskreis. Geography The town is located in the Ore Mountains, at the side of the ''Pöhlberg'' ( above sea le ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

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 ...

and competed for the club

SV Dynamo The Sportvereinigung Dynamo () (''Dynamo Sports Association'') was the Sports associations (East Germany), sport association of the security agencies (Volkspolizei, Stasi, Ministry for State Security, fire department and customs) of former East ...

. She first came to international prominence in 1987, as Kathrin Ullrich, when she won the European Cup 10,000 metres in only her second attempt at the distance. The 1987 season culminated in her winning a bronze medal at the World Championships in Rome, finishing ahead of Olga Bondarenko and Liz McColgan, who placed fourth and fifth respectively. In the 1988 Olympic final 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 ...

, she followed the early break by world record holder

Ingrid Kristiansen Ingrid Kristiansen (née Christensen on 21 March 1956) is a Norwegian former athlete. She was one of the best female long-distance runners during the 1980s. She is a former world record holder in the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and the maratho ...

, only to find herself with a 30 metres lead when Kristiansen dropped out after six laps due to injury. She would eventually finish fourth. Wessel had one of her biggest career wins in 1989, at the World Cup in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, when she outkicked Kristiansen in the final 200 metres to win comfortably. During the early 1990s, Wessel would remain one of the best 10 km runners in the world. At the 1990 European Championships, she won the silver medal behind Yelena Romanova. In 1991, she ran her best ever time of 31:03, which put her fourth on the all-time list behind Kristiansen, McColgan, and Bondarenko. She ended the 1991 season by finishing fourth at the World Championships in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, won by McColgan. In 1992, now competing as Kathrin Wessel, she looked set to be a major medal contender at the 1992 Olympics, when she won the German title in June of that year in 31:20, just ahead of

Uta Pippig Uta Pippig (born 7 September 1965) is a retired German long-distance runner, and the first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon three consecutive times (1994–1996). She also won the Berlin Marathon three times (1990, 1992 and 1995); the ...

, but in Barcelona she failed to finish her qualifying heat. From this point, she would cease to be a major force on the world stage, although she did manage fourth place at the 1994 European Championships and competed in her third and final Olympics in 1996. Late in her career, she moved up in distance to the Marathon, achieving her best time of 2:28:31, in 2001 at the

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , including elite level road r ...

Achievements

Personal bests

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

⁣ – 8:44.81 min (1988) *

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

⁣ – 14:58.71 min (1991) *

⁣ – 31:03.62 min (1991) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

⁣ – 1:11:09 hrs (2001) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

⁣ – 2:28:27 hrs (2001)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wessel, Kathrin 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Annaberg-Buchholz German female long-distance runners German female marathon runners East German female long-distance runners East German female marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes from Saxony East German Athletics Championships winners