Sabine Günther ( Rieger; born 6 November 1963 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 ...

) 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 ...

sprinter who competed mainly 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 ...

Biography

Günther won the 200 metres gold medal at the 1981 European Junior Championships. At the 1982 European Championships, she won the bronze medal in the

and a gold medal in the

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 ...

together 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 the 2 ...

Bärbel Wöckel Bärbel Wöckel ( Eckert; born 21 March 1955) is a former East German sprinter. She never ran a world record in the individual disciplines. However, she ran several world records as part of relay teams with Doris Maletzki, Renate Ste ...

and

Marlies Göhr Marlies Göhr ( Oelsner, born 21 March 1958 in Gera) is a former East German track and field athlete, the winner of the 100 metres at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world rankings for twe ...

. The team finished in 42.19 seconds with Günther running the third leg.European Championships medalists, women
/ref> The relay team of Günther (

Silke Gladisch Silke may refer to: * Silke (actress) a Spanish actress known by her mononym * Silke (given name) * Silke (surname) * Silke, fictional character Samuel Silke in ''Daredevil'' comics * ''Silke'', novel by Lacey Dancer * ''Silke'', comic series ...

, Marlies Göhr and

Ingrid Auerswald Ingrid Auerswald ( Brestrich, born 2 September 1957 in Jena, East Germany) is a retired German athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres. Biography Brestrich-Lange competed for East Germany in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Mosc ...

) set a

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 41.37 seconds at the

1985 IAAF World Cup The 4th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on October 4–6, 1985, at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra, Australia Austr ...

event in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. The world record stood until 2012. At the 1986 European Championships, Günther only placed seventh in the individual distance, but won another gold medal in the

together with Silke Gladisch, Ingrid Auerswald and Marlies Göhr. Their time was 41.84 seconds, and Günther ran the second leg. At the 1990 European Championships, Günther again placed seventh in the individual distance, but won yet another gold medal in the

, this time with Silke Möller (formerly Gladisch),

Katrin Krabbe Katrin Krabbe (; later Zimmermann; born 22 November 1969) is a German former track and field athlete. She represented East Germany (GDR) at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and went on to win the 100 metres and 200 metres titles at the 1991 World Cham ...

and

Kerstin Behrendt Kerstin Behrendt (born 2 September 1967 in Leisnig) is a former Germany, German Track and field athletics, athlete, who mainly competed in the 100 metres, 100 m during her career. Behrendt competed for East Germany at the 1988 Summer Oly ...

. Günther ran the last leg, crossing the finish line to clock in 41.68 seconds. With united Germany, Günther helped finish fifth at the

1992 Olympic Games 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provença ...

with a new relay team composed of

Andrea Philipp Andrea Philipp (born 29 July 1971) is a retired German sprinter. A three-time Olympian, she won a bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 1999 World Championships (tied with Merlene Frazer), and a gold medal in the 100 metres at the 1990 Worl ...

Silke Knoll Silke-Beate Knoll (born 21 February 1967 in Rottweil) is a former German track and field athlete and participant in the Olympic Games who had success in the 1980s and 1990s as a sprinter. Her first success was the 1986 German junior ti ...

, Andrea Thomas and Sabine Günther. Günther represented the sports club SC Motor Jena and won silver medals at the East German championships in 1986 (100 m) and 1990 (200 m). Her personal best times were 11.19 in the 100 metres, achieved in September 1985 in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

, and 22.37 in the 200 metres, achieved in June 1982 in

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

.World women's all-time best 200m (last updated 2001)
/ref> Günther is 1.70 metres tall; during her active career she weighed 60 kg.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther, Sabine 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Jena Athletes from Thuringia Sportspeople from Bezirk Gera East German female sprinters Olympic athletes for Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze German female sprinters Olympic female sprinters