Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in both the heptathlon and long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals at four different Olympic Games. Joyner-Kersee was also a four-time gold medalist at the world championships. Since 1988, she has held the world record for heptathlon.
Kristin Otto is a former German swimmer, becoming Olympic, World and European champion, multiple times. 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. In long course, she held the world records in the 100 meter and 200 meter freestyle events. Otto was also the first woman to swim the short course 100 meter backstroke in under a minute, doing so at an international short course meet at Indiana University in 1983.
Marlies Göhr 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 twelve straight years, ranking first in six of those years. During this time she won many medals as a sprinter at major international championships and set several world records.
Christa Luding-Rothenburger is a former speed skater and track cyclist. She was born in Weißwasser, East Germany. Luding is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, and the first female to win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Games. She is the only athlete to win Winter and Summer Olympic medals in the same year (1988), a feat that is no longer possible due to the staggering of the Winter and Summer Olympic years. In speed skating, she is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, while she is an Olympic silver medallist in cycling.
Heike Gabriela Drechsler is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany and later Germany. One of the most successful long jumpers of all-time, she is a former world record holder and ranks third on the all-time list with her legal best of 7.48 metres in 1988. Her marginally wind-assisted jump of 7.63 metres (+2.1) in 1992 at altitude in Sestriere, is still the furthest a woman has ever long jumped. She is the only woman who has won two Olympic gold medals in the long jump, winning in 1992 and 2000.
Cornelia Oschkenat, is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany. She competed at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. At the 1987 World Championships in Rome, she won a bronze medal in the 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.46s as well as silver medal as a member of the East German 4 × 100 metres relay team.
Cornelia Sirch is a former East German backstroke swimmer. She competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in three events and won two bronze medals in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, in which she swam in a preliminary round. In 1982 she was named Swimming World's European Swimmer of the Year, after winning 200 m backstroke at the World Championships in Guayaguil in a world record time of 2:09.91, becoming the first woman to dip under 2 minutes 10 seconds.
Heike Friedrich is a former freestyle swimmer from East Germany, who won two medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
Beate Schramm is a German rower and Olympic gold medallist. Between 1986 and 1991, she won four senior world championship titles, after having previously twice been junior world champion. She won gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics in the quad sculls event for East Germany, but missed the A final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the single sculls event when she competed for Germany. She was national rowing champion a total of six times; four times in East Germany and twice German champion after the reunification.
Birgit Peter is a German rower and double Olympic gold medalist.
Jana Sorgers is a German rower who was a dominant sculler of her time, starting her career for the East German rowing team and continuing after the German reunification for the combined Germany for a few more years. Between 1986 and 1996, she won two Olympic gold medals, seven world championship titles, and nine national titles. Upon the conclusion of her successful career, she was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal by the International Rowing Federation (FISA) – the highest honour in rowing.
Ramona Balthasar-Franz is a German rower.
Cornelia Polit is a former swimmer from East Germany. At age seventeen she won the silver medal in the women's 200 m backstroke at the 1980 Summer Olympics, behind her teammate Rica Reinisch. She won a silver and a gold medal in the 100 m and 200 m backstroke at the 1981 European Aquatics Championships, respectively. Two years later she repeated this achievement, but in the butterfly events.
Jutta Behrendt is a German competition rower, world champion and Olympic champion.
Wolfgang Gunkel was an East German rower who mostly competed in coxed pairs together with Jörg Lucke. In this event he won the European title in 1971, the Olympic gold medal in 1972, and the world title in 1975. His crew placed fourth at the 1968 Olympics. Gunkel won another world title in the men's eight in 1977. In February 1978, he was given the sports awards Honoured Master of Sports.
Petra Boesler is a German rower who competed for East Germany in the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Heidi Westphal is a German rower and Olympic medalist. She won the silver medal in Double sculls with her partner Cornelia Linse in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Westphal was born in Gnoien, Bezirk Neubrandenburg.
Kerstin Förster is a German rower.
Kristina Mundt is a German rower.
Kerstin Spittler is a retired East German rower who won a gold and a silver medal in the coxed four boat class at the world championships in 1985 and 1986, respectively. In October 1986, she was awarded a Patriotic Order of Merit in gold for her sporting success. She competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the coxless pair, together with Katrin Schröder, and finished in fourth place.
East Germany 
