Martina Hellmann
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| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | |||
| Gold | Seoul 1988 | Discus Throw | |
Martina Hellmann, nee Opitz (born December 12, 1960 in Leipzig, Saxony), is a retired German track and field athlete who represented East Germany. She was the Olympic champion in the discus throw at the 1988 Olympic Summer Games. She also won the World Championship in that event in 1983 and again in 1987.
Hellmann was sixteen years old when she began participating in the event. In 1977 she gave the participants' oath at the opening of the East German gymastics and sport festival. That summer she set the world record for 16 year olds with a throw of 55.00 mters. Her career was plagued by sickness and injury until 1983 when she became the surprise world champion. She was unable to compete at the 1984 summer Olympic games due to her country's boycott.
On September 6, 1988 she threw the discus 78.14 meters, further then anybody had ever thrown before. The throw came though in an unofficial training tournament in the East German training camp at Kienbaum, therefore the throw was not eligible to be considered a world record.
After the 1992 Summer Olympics, where she was eliminated during qualification, she retired. She later was the head of a sports group of the insurance company AOK and became a manager at a cabaret in Leipzig.
Hellmann represented the DHfK Leipzig sport club and trained with Rolf Wittenbecher and Bernhard Thomas. During her active career she was 1.78 meters tall and weighed 81 kilograms.
[edit] Achievements
- 1983, World championship: 1st place (68.94)
- 1986, European championship: 3rd place (68.26)
- 1987, World championship: 1st place (71.62)
- 1988, Olympic summer games: 1st place (72.30)
- 1990, European championship: 3rd place (66.66)
| Olympic champions in women's discus throw |
|---|
| 1928: Halina Konopacka | 1932: Lillian Copeland | 1936: Gisela Mauermayer | 1948: Micheline Ostermeyer | 1952: Nina Romaschkova | 1956: Olga Fikotová | 1960: Nina Ponomaryeva | 1964: Tamara Press | 1968: Lia Manoliu | 1972: Faina Melnik | 1976: Evelin Schlaak | 1980: Evelin Jahl | 1984: Ria Stalman | 1988: Martina Hellmann | 1992: Maritza Martén | 1996: Ilke Wyludda | 2000: Ellina Zvereva | 2004: Natalya Sadova |
This article is based on a translation of an article from the German Wikipedia.
