Birgit Fischer

Birgit Fischer
Medal record
Birgit Fischer (left) with Freya Hoffmeister, 2010

Women's canoe sprint
Olympic Games
Competitor for East Germany
Gold	1980 Moscow	K-1 500 m
Gold	1988 Seoul	K-2 500 m
Gold	1988 Seoul	K-4 500 m
Silver	1988 Seoul	K-1 500 m
Competitor for Germany
Gold	1992 Barcelona	K-1 500 m
Gold	1996 Atlanta	K-4 500 m
Gold	2000 Sydney	K-2 500 m
Gold	2000 Sydney	K-4 500 m
Gold	2004 Athens	K-4 500 m
Silver	1992 Barcelona	K-4 500 m
Silver	1996 Atlanta	K-2 500 m
Silver	2004 Athens	K-2 500 m
World Championships
Competitor for East Germany
Gold	1978 Belgrade	K-4 500 m
Gold	1979 Duisburg	K-4 500 m
Gold	1981 Nottingham	K-1 500 m
Gold	1981 Nottingham	K-2 500 m
Gold	1981 Nottingham	K-4 500 m
Gold	1982 Belgrade	K-1 500 m
Gold	1982 Belgrade	K-2 500 m
Gold	1982 Belgrade	K-4 500 m
Gold	1983 Tampere	K-1 500 m
Gold	1983 Tampere	K-2 500 m
Gold	1983 Tampere	K-4 500 m
Gold	1985 Mechelen	K-1 500 m
Gold	1985 Mechelen	K-2 500 m
Gold	1985 Mechelen	K-4 500 m
Gold	1987 Duisburg	K-1 500 m
Gold	1987 Duisburg	K-2 500 m
Gold	1987 Duisburg	K-4 500 m
Competitor for Germany
Gold	1993 Copenhagen	K-1 500 m
Gold	1993 Copenhagen	K-4 500 m
Gold	1994 Mexico City	K-1 500 m
Gold	1994 Mexico City	K-4 500 m
Gold	1995 Duisburg	K-4 500 m
Gold	1997 Dartmouth	K-2 200 m
Gold	1997 Dartmouth	K-2 500 m
Gold	1997 Dartmouth	K-2 1000 m
Gold	1997 Dartmouth	K-4 200 m
Gold	1997 Dartmouth	K-4 500 m
Gold	1998 Szeged	K-4 500 m
Silver	1994 Mexico City	K-2 200 m
Silver	1994 Mexico City	K-4 200 m
Silver	1995 Duisburg	K-4 200 m
Silver	1998 Szeged	K-2 500 m
Silver	1998 Szeged	K-2 1000 m
Silver	1999 Milan	K-4 500 m
Bronze	1993 Copenhagen	K-1 5000 m
Bronze	1994 Mexico City	K-2 500 m
Bronze	2005 Zagreb	K-2 200 m
Bronze	2005 Zagreb	K-4 1000 m

Birgit Fischer (born February 25, 1962) is a German kayaker, who has won eight gold medals over six different Olympic Games, a record she shares with Aladár Gerevich, spanning seven Olympiads: twice representing East Germany (interrupted by the boycott of 1984), then four times representing the reunited nation. After both the 1988 and 2000 games, she announced her retirement, only to return for the subsequent games. She has been both the youngest- and oldest-ever Olympic canoeing champion (ages 18 and 42). In 2004 she was voted German sportswoman of the year.

Fischer was born in Brandenburg an der Havel, then in East Germany. She attended an ASK (army sports club) boarding school in Potsdam, and worked as a sports instructor in the National People's Army, attaining a rank of major by the time of German reunification in 1990. She was married from 1984 to 1993 to canoeist Jörg Schmidt, silver medalist in the C-1 1000 m event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. She lives with their two children in Brandenburg. In 1999 she stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for the FDP in the European Parliament election. Fischer's niece, Fanny, competed for Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, winning a gold in the K-4 500 m event. Fischer's brother Frank won nine world championship medals between 1981 and 1986.

She also won 38 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medals between 1978 and 2005, including 28 golds. Fischer's career medal count was surpassed by Hungary's Katalin Kovács at the 2011 championships in Szeged.