Kristina Richter ( Hochmuth, born 24 October 1946) is a former

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 ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

player who won the

World Championship 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 ...

three times with the East German national team. She also competed in 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 ...

and in 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 ...

. She was inducted into

Germany's Sports Hall of Fame The Germany's Sports Hall of Fame () is the national sports hall of fame in Germany, initiated 2006. The inductions are made by Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe, Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund and Verband Deutscher Sportjournalisten. Members Uli ...

in July 2016.

Playing Career

Richter started playing handball in 1963 after first practicing

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. She started as a youth player for BSG Aktivist „Karl Marx“ Zwickau, before joining Berliner TSC in 1965. Here she played the rest of her career until 1980. With the club she won EHF European Champions Cup in 1978, the DDR Championship in 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1980 and the DDR Cup in 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.

National team

In 1971 she was part of the East German team that won the 1971 World Championship. At the 1975 World Championship she won her second world championship. In 1976 at the

1976 Olympics 1976 Olympics refers to both: *The 1976 Winter Olympics, which were originally to be held in Denver, United States, but relocated to Innsbruck, Austria *The 1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of t ...

she won a silver medal with the East German team. She played all five matches and scored 27 goals. Four years later she won a bronze medal as a member of the East German team. She played all five matches and scored 19 goals. At the

1978 World Women's Handball Championship The 1978 World Women's Handball Championship was the 7th edition of the tournament. It took place in Czechoslovakia from between 30 November-10 December 1978. East Germany won the tournament ahead of Soviet Union and Hungary. This was East German ...

she was joint top scorer together with

Milena Foltynova Milena may refer to: * Milena (skipper), ''Milena'' (skipper), a genus of skippers in the family Hesperiidae * Milena, Sicily, a ''comune'' in the Province of Caltanissetta, Italy * Milena (given name), a popular female Slavic name * Milena (film ...

with 41 goals, when East Germany won their third title. She has the 8th most matches ever for any of the German national teams and had the third most goals after Katrin Mietzner and

Grit Jurack Grit Jurack (born 22 October 1977) is a German former handball player, who played on the German women's national team. She was Top Scorer in the 2007 World Women's Handball Championship and included on the All-Star Team. and also obtained bronze ...

Coaching career

From 1981 she coached youth teams at Berliner TSC. From 1994 she became the head coach of the 1st team.

Awards and recognition

In 1976 she was awarded the DDR

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 ...

in bronze. In 1980 she received the award in silver. In 1980 she was the East German player of the year. She was the Olympic flagbearer at the

1980 Olympics The 1980 Olympics may refer to: * 1980 Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, New York, United States * 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), wer ...

for East Germany.

Private

Richter studied in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, while playing for BSG Aktivist „Karl Marx“ Zwickau. She is educated as a primary school teacher in sports and geography. She was married from 1938 to the German cycling coach Dagomar Richter until his death in 2020. She has two children. Her older brother was a handball coach at BSG Aktivist Karl Marx Zwickau.

References

External links

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profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Kristina 1946 births Living people German female handball players Handball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics East German female handball players Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze German handball coaches Female handball coaches Sportspeople from Zwickau Handball players from Saxony Sportspeople from Bezirk Karl-Marx-Stadt