Kristin Otto

Kristin Otto

Kristin Otto in 1982
Personal information
Full name	Kristin Otto
Nationality	East Germany
Born	7 February 1966 Leipzig, Sachsen, East Germany
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	70 kg (150 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	freestyle, butterfly, backstroke
Club	Sportclub Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur Leipzig
Medal record Women’s swimming Competitor for  East Germany Olympic Games 1988 Seoul 50 m freestyle 1988 Seoul 100 m freestyle 1988 Seoul 100 m butterfly 1988 Seoul 100 m backstroke 1988 Seoul 4×100 m freestyle 1988 Seoul 4×100 m medley World Championships (LC) 1982 Guayaquil 100 m backstroke 1982 Guayaquil 4×100 m medley 1982 Guayaquil 4×100 m freestyle 1986 Madrid 100 m freestyle 1986 Madrid 200 m medley 1986 Madrid 4×100 m freestyle 1986 Madrid 4×100 m medley 1986 Madrid 50 m freestyle 1986 Madrid 100 m butterfly European Championships (LC) 1983 Rome 4×100 m freestyle 1983 Rome 4×200 m freestyle 1987 Strasbourg 100 m freestyle 1987 Strasbourg 100 m backstroke 1987 Strasbourg 100 m butterfly 1987 Strasbourg 4×100 m freestyle 1987 Strasbourg 4×100 m medley 1989 Bonn 100 m backstroke 1989 Bonn 4×100 m medley 1983 Rome 100 m freestyle 1989 Bonn 200 m backstroke Friendship Games 1984 Moscow 100 m freestyle 1984 Moscow 200 m freestyle 1984 Moscow 4×100 m freestyle 1984 Moscow 100 m backstroke 1984 Moscow 200 m backstroke

Kristin Otto (born 7 February 1966)^[1] is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic games.^[2][3] Otto was also the first woman to swim the short course 100 meter backstroke in under a minute,^[2] doing so at an international short course meet at Indiana University in 1983.^[4]

Career

Otto was born in Leipzig, East Germany, and began swimming at the age of 12, training in an East German sports academy. Aged sixteen, she participated in her first world championships, the 1982 World Aquatics Championships, winning the gold medal in the 100 meter backstroke as well as two additional gold medals in the 4×100 m relays with the East German team.

After 1982, Otto changed coaches and began concentrating on other speed strokes. At the following European Championships in 1983, Otto finished second in the 100 meter freestyle, following her fellow East German, Birgit Meineke.

In 1984, Otto set a world record in the 200 meter freestyle. She was expected to win gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic games, but was unable to compete due to the boycott by 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including East Germany. In 1985 she fractured a vertebra, keeping her from competing for most of the year or to go to the European Championships.

Otto returned to competitive swimming at the 1986 World Championships in Madrid, where she won 4 gold medals (100 m freestyle, 200 m individual medley, 4×100 m medley relay and 4×100 m freestyle relay) and 2 silver medals (50 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly). Her success continued the following year at the 1987 European Championships where she won 5 gold medals.

At the 1988 Seoul Olympic games she once again was expected to win Olympic gold. She won six gold medals, as well as setting world records in the 50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke and 100 m butterfly.^[5]

Otto retired from swimming in 1989.^[6] She currently works as a sports reporter for German television.

She was named the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 1984, 1986 and 1988 by Swimming World magazine.

Otto's career was marred by the revelations of widespread performance enhancement drugs use by East German athletes: former teammate Petra Schneider openly admitted that she had used banned substances. However, Otto stated that she was not aware that she was being doped, saying: "The medals are the only reminder of how hard I worked. It was not all drugs."^[7]

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• List of World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming (women)
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games
• List of multiple Olympic gold medalists

References

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1. Kubatko, Justin. "Kristin Otto Biography and Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
2. "Otto, Kristin." Chambers Biographical Dictionary. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007. Credo Reference. Web. 2 July 2011.
3. "1988." The Hutchinson Chronology of World History. Abington: Helicon, 2010. Credo Reference. Web. 2 July 2011.
4. "Swim Mark for East German". New York Times. 9 January 1983. p. A3.
5. "Swimming and Diving-Women." World Almanac & Book of Facts (2008): 868-869. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 2 July 2011.
6. "Swimmer to Retire". The New York Times (New York: NYTC). 19 November 1989. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
7. Lord, Craig (2006-03-07). Germans bid to purge themselves from their doping past. The Times. Retrieved on 2009-04-09.