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

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits ...

) is a retired

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-dev ...

, 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 on ...

and the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

. 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 in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

, together with teammates

Kirsten Siemon 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 metres, 400 meter sprint. Her biggest success came as a memb ...

, Dagmar Rubsam and

Marita Koch Marita Koch (later Meier-Koch; born 18 February 1957) is a German former sprint track and field athlete. During her career she collected 16 world records in outdoor sprints as well as 14 world records in indoor events. Her record of 47.60 in th ...

. At the

1983 World Championships The 1st 1983 World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983. Summary The overall me ...

she finished fifth in her 400 m semifinal and was eliminated, but won another gold medal in the relay, with teammates

Gesine Walther Gesine Walther (born 6 October 1962) is a retired German sprinter. Biography In 1982 Walther became the first European indoor champion in the 200 m event. At the 1982 European Championships she finished fifth in the 100 m, fourth in th ...

, Koch and Rübsam. She ran her 400 m lifetime best of 49.24 in Erfurt, in June 1984, but was prevented from competing at 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 ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 54.13 secs, before breaking

Margarita Ponomaryova A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). T ...

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 organizati ...

of 53.58, with 53.55 in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

in September.World Record Progression, 400 m. hurdles women
– 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 courts. Finals Singles Doubles See also * Berlin Open ...

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, e ...

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 Petra Schersing (née Müller, born 18 October 1965 in Quedlinburg) is a retired East German sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. She represented sports club SC Chemie Halle and was coached by Harold Werner. At the 1988 Olympic Games in ...

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 known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

she finished fourth in the final of the 400 m hurdles, being edged out of the bronze medal by her GDR teammate

Ellen Fiedler Ellen Fiedler ( Neumann, born 26 November 1958 in Demmin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a former East German 400 metres hurdler. She won the bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, in a career best time of 53.63 seconds. This ranks ...

(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, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. As of 2013, 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 Eberhard König ( Grünberg 18 June 1871 - Berlin 26 December 1949) was a Silesian German writer and dramatist. Works *Libretto for the opera '' Rübezahl und der Sackpfeifer von Neisse'' by Hans Sommer 1904Deutsche Rundschau ''Deutsche Rundsc ...

References

External links

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Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Busch, Sabine 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from Erfurt People from Bezirk Erfurt East German female hurdlers East German female sprinters Olympic athletes of 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