Manuela Derr, married Rödel (born 17 July 1971 in

Neubrandenburg Neubrandenburg (, Low German ''Niegenbramborg'', both lit. ''New Brandenburg an der Havel, Brandenburg'') is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban c ...

) 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 specialized 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 ...

. She was banned from competing for doping in 1992.

Biography

She won most of her medals at the junior level. At the 1988 World Junior Championships she finished fifth in the individual distance and a gold medal in

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 ...

. At the 1989 European Junior Championships she won four medals; a gold medal in 4 × 400 m relay, a silver medal in the

200 metres 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 slight ...

and bronze medals in the

100 metres 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 contested at ...

and

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 ...

. At the 1990 World Junior Championships she won the bronze medal in the individual distance and finished fourth in relay. At the 1990 European Championships Derr won a gold medal in relay, with teammates Annett Hesselbarth, Grit Breuer and Petra Schersing. In 1992 Derr was found guilty of

clenbuterol Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most comm ...

doping, together with training partners Grit Breuer and Katrin Krabbe. Her personal best time was 51.95 seconds, achieved at the 1990 World Junior Championships in

Plovdiv Plovdiv (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, second-largest city in Bulgaria, 144 km (93 miles) southeast of the capital Sofia. It had a population of 490,983 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is a cultural hub ...

.World women's all-time best 400m (last updated August 2001)
/ref> She represented the sports club SC Neubrandenburg.

References

1971 births Living people East German female sprinters Doping cases in athletics German sportspeople in doping cases European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Neubrandenburg Athletes from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Sportspeople from Bezirk Neubrandenburg {{East Germany-athletics-bio-stub