Heike Drechsler

Medal record

Heike Drechsler at the opening ceremony of the 2007 World Championships in Athletics
Competitor for  East Germany
 Germany
Women's Athletics
Olympic Games
Gold 1992 Barcelona Long jump
Gold 2000 Sydney Long jump
Silver 1988 Seoul Long jump
Bronze 1988 Seoul 100 m
Bronze 1988 Seoul 200 m
World Championships
Gold 1983 Helsinki Long jump
Gold 1993 Stuttgart Long jump
Silver 1987 Rome 100 m
Silver 1991 Tokyo Long jump
Bronze 1987 Rome Long jump
Bronze 1991 Tokyo 4x100 m relay
World Indoor Championships
Gold 1987 Indianapolis 200 m
Gold 1987 Indianapolis Long jump
European Championships
Gold 1986 Stuttgart 200 m
Gold 1986 Stuttgart Long jump
Gold 1990 Split Long jump
Gold 1994 Helsinki Long jump
Gold 1998 Budapest Long jump
Silver 1990 Split 200 m

Heike Gabriela Drechsler née Daute (born 16 December 1964 in Gera, Thuringia, then East Germany) is a German track and field athlete. She is one of the most successful female long jumpers of all time and also had several successes in sprint disciplines.

She is the only woman who has won two Olympic gold medals in the long jump (1992 and 2000). She also won two World Championships in the long jump (1983 and 1993), as well as gold medals in the long jump and the 200 m sprint in the World Indoor Championships 1987. In addition, she had numerous successes in European and German championships.

Drechsler's greatest rival in the long jump was Jackie Joyner-Kersee, with whom she was also very good friends.

In 1986, Drechsler twice equalled Marita Koch's 200 metres sprint world record and set two long jump world records and equalled one in 1985 and 1986. As of 2000, she had more than four hundred long jump competitions with results over seven meters, more than any other female athlete.

As teenager she was active in the Free German Youth (FDJ) and in 1984 she was elected to the Volkskammer of East Germany.

Several German websites, including her own, claim that Heike Drechsler was voted "Athlete of the Century" in 1999 by the IAAF. This is not quite correct: she was put on the "shortlist" [1], but the award was given to Fanny Blankers-Koen [2].

Contents

World records

Long Jump:
1983: 7.14 meters Bratislava / (Juniors)
1985: 7.44 meters Berlin
1986: 7.45 meters Tallinn
1986: 7.45 meters Dresden
In 1992 Heike Drechsler jumped 7.63 m at altitude in Sestriere Italy with a 2.1 m / sec. wind, over the allowable. That jump is 11 cm longer than the current world record. Her personal best under legal conditions was 7.48 set in Neubrandenburg July 9, 1994, which is still the #4 jump of all time.[1]
200-meter run:
1986: 21.71 seconds Jena
1986: 21.71 seconds Stuttgart
Heptathlon:
1981: 5891 Points (Junior)

Doping allegations

There were many accusations of drug use while she competed for East Germany. She has never failed a drug test during her career [3] In 2001, the BBC claimed she has admitted to unknowingly taking prohibited substances in the early 1980s under orders from her team doctors.[2]

In 1991, after the fall of East Germany, Brigitte Berendonk and Werner Franke wrote several theses and dissertations quoting former GDR doping researchers in the Military Medical Academy Bad Saarow (MMA). The basis of the work reconstructed state-organized doping practices involving many well-known GDR athletes, including Heike Drechsler. Indications were that Heike Drechsler used high doses Oral Turinabol plus more testosterone ester injections before competitions from 1982 to 1984.[3] In 1993, Drechsler challenged Brigitte Berendonk, accusing her of lying in a lawsuit.[4] In the case, the full annual dosage schedules, and charts of the development of sport performance as a function of the dosage amount were released. Drechsler lost the lawsuit, essentially validating the claims of the book[5] .[6]

References

  1. ^ http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=o/age=n/season=0/sex=W/all=y/legal=A/disc=LJ/detail.html IAAF All time stats
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/specials/european_athletics/2082599.stm BBC
  3. ^ Brigitte Berendonk: Doping documents - From Scientific Research to Cheating. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-540-53742-2, p. 125, Table 7
  4. ^ ↑ Cf Uwe Mueller / Grit Hartman: Forward and forget it! Kader, spies and accomplices - The dangerous legacy of the SED dictatorship, Berlin 2009, p. 215
  5. ^ ↑ Brigitte Berendonk: Doping documents - From Scientific Research to Cheating. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-540-53742-2, p. 122, Fig 6
  6. ^ ↑ Brigitte Berendonk: Doping documents - From Scientific Research to Cheating. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-540-53742-2, p. 133, Figure 11

External links


Records
Preceded by
Anişoara Cuşmir
Women's Long Jump World Record Holder
22 September 1985 – 11 June 1988
Succeeded by
Galina Chistyakova
Awards
Preceded by
Marita Koch
East German Sportswoman of the Year
1986
Succeeded by
Silke Möller
Preceded by
Heike Henkel
Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year
1992
Succeeded by
Wang Junxia
Preceded by
Steffi Graf
German Sportswoman of the Year
2000
Succeeded by
Hannah Stockbauer
Preceded by
Mary Decker Slaney
United Press International
Athlete of the Year

1986
Succeeded by
Steffi Graf
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Anişoara Cuşmir
Women's Long Jump Best Year Performance
1984 — 1986
Succeeded by
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Preceded by
Marita Koch
Women's 200 m Best Year Performance
1986
Succeeded by
Silke Möller
Preceded by
Galina Chistyakova
Women's Long Jump Best Year Performance
1991 — 1993
Succeeded by
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Preceded by
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Women's Heptathlon Best Year Performance
1994
Succeeded by
Ghada Shouaa
Preceded by
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Women's Long Jump Best Year Performance
1995
Succeeded by
Jackie Joyner-Kersee