Petra Schersing ( Müller, born 18 July 1965 in

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the Harz (district), district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg becam ...

) 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 ...

. She represented sports club

SC Chemie Halle Hallescher FC, formerly known as Hallescher FC Chemie, is a German association football club based in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga, the fourth highest level in the German football league system. ...

and was coached by Harold Werner. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, she won a silver medal in the 400 metres and a bronze medal in the 4×400 metres relay.

Biography

As Petra Muller, she first achieved international recognition, when she became the 1983 European Junior Champion at 400 metres. She also won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay. In 1986, at the

European Indoor Championships The European Indoor Championships was a men's tennis tournament played in Berlin, Germany. The event was played as part of the ATP Tour in 1990 and 1991. It was played on indoor carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The Intern ...

, she won a silver medal behind teammate

Sabine Busch Sabine Busch (later Ascui; born 21 November 1962, in Erfurt) is a retired East German athlete, who specialised in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. In 1987, she became the World Champion at 400 m hurdles and the World In ...

. Later that year at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in Stuttgart, she won a bronze medal in the individual 400 metres and a gold medal in the relay, with teammates

Kirsten Emmelmann Kirsten Emmelmann ( Siemon; born 19 April 1961 in Warnemünde, Bezirk Rostock) is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany in the 1980s in the 400 meter sprint. Her biggest success came as a member of the ...

, Sabine Busch 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 ...

. At the 1987 World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, she surprisingly failed to reach the final. At the 1987 World Championships in Rome she won a silver medal in the 400 m behind

Olga Bryzgina Olha Bryzhina (, maiden name Olga Arkad'evna Vladykina; ; born June 30, 1963, in Krasnokamsk, Perm Oblast) is a retired athlete who represented the Soviet Union (until 1991) and later Ukraine. Career Bryzhina trained at Dynamo (sports society), ...

as well as another relay gold medal alongside

Dagmar Neubauer Dagmar Neubauer ( Rübsam; born 3 June 1962 in Suhl) is a retired German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. At the 1982 European Championships she finished sixth in the 400 metres, but won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 metres r ...

, Emmelmann and Busch. Muller won her biggest individual title in 1988, when she became the European Indoor Champion in 50.28 secs, which at the time ranked her fourth on the indoor all-time list. At the

1988 Olympics 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 () ...

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, between

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

) and

Olga Nazarova Olga Vladimirovna Nazarova (; born 1 June 1965) is a Russian former track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She represented the Soviet Union. She won two Olympic gold medals in the 4 × 400 metres relay, in 1988 and 1992 ...

(

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

). She also won the bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay, with teammates Neubauer, Emmelmann and Busch. In 1990, now competing as Petra Schersing, she won a silver medal at the

in Split, finishing behind her teenage teammate

Grit Breuer Grit Breuer (later Springstein, born 16 February 1972 in Röbel, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a German former athlete, who competed in the women's 200 metres, 400 metres, 4 × 100 m relay, and 4 × 400 m relay events. She has received injuri ...

and won a gold medal in the relay, with new teammates

Manuela Derr Manuela Derr, married Rödel (born 17 July 1971 in Neubrandenburg) is a retired East German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. She was banned from competing for doping in 1992. Biography She won most of her medals at the junior l ...

Annett Hesselbarth Annett Hesselbarth (born 4 June 1966 in Halle) is a retired German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. At the 1990 European Championships in Athletics in Split, she finished fourth in 400 m and won the 4 × 400 m relay for East Germany t ...

and Breuer. Schersing's personal best time in the 400 metres is 49.30 seconds, achieved in June 1988 in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, which at that time placed her tenth on the all-time list. She won the East German National 400 m title three times (1986–1988) and twice won the East German indoor 400 m title (1986, 1988). As of 2013, Schersing's Outdoor best (49.30) is 21st on the World all-time list and third on the German all-time list, only behind

and

.,Top 10 lists in German athletics
– Deutschen Leichtathletik-Verband while her indoor best (50.28) is tenth on the World indoor all-time list and second on the German indoor all-time list, behind Sabine Busch. In October 1988, she married fellow Olympic sprinter

Mathias Schersing Mathias Schersing (born 7 October 1964 in Halle) is a retired East German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. At the 1986 European Championships he won the bronze medal in the 400 metres in a lifetime best of 44.85 seconds and finishe ...

International competitions

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schersing, Petra 1965 births Living people East German female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for East Germany People from Quedlinburg Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century German sportswomen World Athletics Championships winners Athletes from Bezirk Halle SC Chemie Halle athletes Competitors at the 1984 Friendship Games East German Athletics Championships winners