Sabine Busch (later Ascui; born 21 November 1962, in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

) 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 ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

, 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 ...

and the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. In 1987, she became the

World Champion 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 ...

at 400 m hurdles and the World Indoor Champion at 400 m.

Biography

At the 1982 European Championships she finished fourth in the 400 m, before winning a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

in the

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 ...

, together with teammates Kirsten Siemon, Dagmar Rubsam 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 1983 World Championships she finished fifth in her 400 m semifinal and was eliminated, but won another gold medal in the relay, with teammates Gesine Walther, Koch and Rübsam. She set her 400 m lifetime best of 49.24 in Erfurt in June 1984, but could not compete in the 1984 Olympics due to the Eastern Bloc Boycott. Busch switched to the 400 m hurdles in 1985, with immediate success, winning the European Cup in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 54.13 secs, before breaking Margarita Ponomaryova's

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

of 53.58, with 53.55 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in September. – The Athletics Site She ended the season by winning at the World Cup in Canberra in 54.44. Busch began 1986 by winning the 400 m title 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 ...

for the second time, having also won the 1985 Event. At the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart, she won a

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 hurdles, losing to Marina Stepanova, who in the process broke Busch's world record with 53.32, Busch ran 53.60. She won a gold medal in the relay with Emmelmann (Siemon), Petra Muller and Koch. In 1987, Busch won the 400 m title at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis. The highlight of her career came at the 1987 World Championships in Rome, where she won a clear victory in the 400 m hurdles in 53.62 secs, to become world champion. She won a second gold medal in the relay with Emmelmann, Neubauer (Rubsam) and Muller. At the 1988 Olympic Games 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 finished fourth in the final of the 400 m hurdles, being edged out of the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

by her GDR teammate Ellen Fiedler (53.63 – 53.69). She did win a bronze medal in the relay alongside her teammates Neubauer, Emmelmann and Muller. In 1991, Busch represented a United Germany at the

World Championships 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 ...

in Tokyo, where she was eliminated in the semi-finals in 55.93 secs. Busch's career best time at the 400 m hurdles was 53.24 seconds, achieved in August 1987 in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. As of 2024, this is still the German record.Top 10 lists in German athletics
– Deutschen Leichtathletik-Verband Her personal best time in the 400 metres of 49.24 seconds, places her second on the German all-time list, only behind

. On the world all-time lists, she ranks 16th at 400 m and 24th at 400 m hurdles. Busch represented the sports club SC Turbine Erfurt and was coached by Eberhard König.

References

External links

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Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Sabine 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Erfurt Athletes from Thuringia Sportspeople from Bezirk Erfurt East German female hurdlers East German female sprinters Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for East Germany World Athletics Championships athletes for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) World record setters in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners East German Athletics Championships winners