Karin Büttner-Janz

Karin Büttner-Janz (born 17 February 1952 in Hartmannsdorf a district of Lübben (Spreewald), German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly:East Germany) is a medical doctor, Olympic medal winner in artistic gymnastics and, since March 1990, chief physician of the orthopedic Vivantes hospital in Friedrichshain.

Life

Sporting career

Her first coach was her father Guido Janz, who taught her excellent basics. Karin moved to a sports school in Forst, where she trained under Klaus Helbeck. Her final coach was Jürgen Heritz.

In 1967, at the age of fifteen, Karin Janz was nominated as East German Athlete of the Year despite not yet having had any international success. She went on to win the silver medal on the uneven bars and a bronze medal as part of the country's gymnastics team at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

At the 1970 world championships she overcame Ludmilla Tourischeva on the uneven bars to win the gold medal. In a controversial finish, she delivered another gold medal winning performance on the uneven bars at the 1972 Munich Olympics, defeating Olga Korbut on her favourite apparatus. She also won the gold medal on the vault, a silver medal as part of the East German women's gymnastic team, and bronze on the balance beam. She was the most successful sports woman of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) at the 1972 Summer Olympics and was recognized there as Sportswoman of the Year in 1972. After these successes she announced her intention of ending her competitive career to turn to the study of medicine to become a physician.

Karin has an uneven bars element named after her, the Janz Salto, which she first performed in competition at the SV Dynamo Spartakiade in East Berlin, 1971.

Academic physician

Karin Janz studied at the Humboldt University in East Berlin beginning in 1971 and earned her diploma in emergency medicine. Later, she conducted her clinical semester at the orthopedic hospital of the Charité and went on to specialize in orthopaedics. She obtained her doctorate and habilitation through her work on the development of an artificial spine disk, known as the Charité Disc. She is co-owner of a patent on the device^[1] with her colleague Kurt Schellnack. Subsequently, Büttner-Janz moved to the clinic of Hellersdorf.

Honours

• 1967 - European vice-champion on the asymmetric bars, bronze medal on vault.
• 1968 - silver medal at the Olympics on the asymmetric bars, bronze medal in the team competition.
• 1969 - four time European champion (all-round, vault, uneven bars, balance beam), vice-champion in floor exercise.
• 1970 - world champion on the asymmetric bars, vice-champion on vault and in the team competition.
• 1972 - European champion on vault and the asymmetric bars, silver medal in the all-round and in the team competition, bronze medal on the balance beam.
• 1984 - first OI, where their invention, Charite artificial spine disk was used.
• 1987 - honorary member of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine; consolation prize of the Olympic Committee “in appreciation of her outstanding sports and academic career”.
• 2000 - nominated as "Gymnast of the Century".
• 2003 - inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.^[2]

External links

• Meeting of the champions
• Trainer
• portrait
• Retro

References