![]() Hoffmeister at the 1972 Olympics | |
Personal information | |
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Born | Forst, Germany | 6 July 1944
Height | 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) |
Weight | 56 kg (123 lb) |
Sport | |
Sport | Athletics |
Event(s) | 800 m, 1500 m |
Club | SC Cottbus |
Achievements and titles | |
Personal best(s) | 800 m – 1:58.61 (1976) 1500 m – 4:01.4 (1976) [1] |
Medal record |
Gunhild Hoffmeister (born 6 July 1944) is a retired German middle-distance runner. She competed at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and won two silver and one bronze medal, becoming the only German distance runner to win three Olympic medals. Together with Hans Grodotzki she is the only German runner to win two medals at the same Olympics. Her personal best time in 1,500 metres was 4:01.4, achieved in July 1976 in Potsdam. This places her ninth on the German all-time list. [2]
At the European Championships, Hoffmeister won five medals between 1971 and 1974: three outdoors and two indoors. She also won the European Cup in 1973 and placed second in 1970. Domestically, she collected 15 outdoor and two indoor East German titles. She set three world records: in the 1,000 m in 1972 and in two 4 × 800 m relays in 1969 and 1976. [3]
Hoffmeister was a sports teacher by training and after retiring from competitions became deputy chief of the Children and Youth School in Cottbus. She was also active in politics and was a member of East German Parliament in 1971–76. Until the German reunification in 1990 she served as a board member of the East German Sports Federation, and after that worked as a sports rehabilitation therapist in Berlin. Her daughter Kerstin also became a competitive runner. [3]
Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth is a German former high jumper. She won the Olympic title twice, in 1972 and 1984. She is the youngest Olympic champion ever in women's high jump, and at the time of her 1984 triumph, she also was the oldest ever.
Karin Balzer was an East German hurdler who competed in the 80 m hurdles event at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics, and in the 100 m hurdles in 1972. She won a gold medal in 1964 and a bronze in 1972, while finishing fifth in 1968. During her career she set 37 world's best performances.
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Wilhelm "Willi" Wülbeck is a retired German middle-distance runner. Competing in the 800 m he finished fourth at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the West German boycott and could not participate in the 1984 Summer Olympics because of an injury. He also finished eighth at the 1974 and 1982 European Championships.
Nikolina Pavlova Shtereva is a retired Bulgarian middle-distance runner who specialised in the 800 and 1500 metres. She is best known for her silver medal in 800 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and at the European Indoor Championships she won gold medals in 1976 and 1979 and a bronze medal in 1981. She won fourteen national titles in Bulgaria, and is still the Bulgarian record holder in the 800 metres.
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Hildegard Falck is a retired West German runner. At the 1972 Olympics she won a gold medal in the 800 m and a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay with West German team. In the 800 m final she finished 0.1 seconds ahead of Nijolė Sabaitė and Gunhild Hoffmeister.
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Karin Krebs is a retired East German middle-distance runner. She won the 800 metres race at the 1968 European Indoor Games, but failed to reach the 800 m Olympic final the same year. She then focused on the 1500 m event and won it at the 1971 European Championships, setting a new world record at 4:09.6 minutes. She placed fourth at the 1972 Olympics, and her world record was broken earlier in July 1972 by the future Olympic gold medalist Lyudmila Bragina. Krebs had her last intentional success in 1974 when she won the silver medal over 1500 m at the European Indoor Championships.
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These are the official results of the Women's 800 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 31 of August and 3 of September. The favorite coming into the Olympics was West German champion and world record holder Hildegard Falck. In the 1971 West German Championships she became the first woman to officially better two minutes. She was the pre Olympic favorite to win the gold on home soil, the rest of the field was wide open to claim the other podium spots.
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Rita Kirst is a retired German high jumper. She competed at the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics and finished in fifth, fifth and 22nd place, respectively. Between 1968 and 1974 she won three gold and two bronze medals at the European indoor championships. Her personal best is 1.92 m (1974).
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Ellen Buchleitner is a German former track and field athlete who was a middle-distance specialist. Representing East Germany, she won a silver medal in the 800 metres at the 1989 European Indoor Championships and a bronze medal in the 800m at the 1989 World Indoor Championships, before going on to win a silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 1990 European Championships. She won three East German national titles.
Konstanze "Koko" Klosterhalfen is a German middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2019 World Championship bronze medallist and 2022 European champion in the 5000 metres, becoming the first German medalist of the event at the World Athletics Championships and the first German winner of the event at the European Athletics Championships. At the European Indoor Championships, Klosterhalfen won silver medals for the 1500 metres in 2017 and the 3000 metres in 2019 and 2023. She took four individual medals at the European Cross Country Championships. In February 2020, she set a European indoor record in the 5000 m with 14:30.79, the fourth fastest time ever.