Kristin Otto
Encyclopedia
Kristin Otto is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals, doing so at the 1988 Seoul
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

 Olympic games. Otto was also the first woman to swim the short course
Short course
In Swimming, the term Short Course is used to identify a pool that is 25 metres in length. The term is also often included in meet names when conducted in a short course pool...

 100 meter backstroke in under a minute, doing so at an international short course meet at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

 in 1983.

Career

Otto began swimming at the age of ten, training in an East German sports academy. Aged sixteen, she participated in her first world championships, the 1982 World Aquatics Championships
1982 World Aquatics Championships
The 1982 World Aquatics Championships took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador between July 29 and August 8, 1982 with 848 participating athletes.- Medals table :-Diving:MenWomen-Swimming:MenWomen-Synchronised swimming:-Water polo:Men...

, winning the gold medal in the 100 meter backstroke as well as two additional gold medals in the 4×100 m relays with the East German team.

After 1982, Otto changed coaches and began concentrating on other speed strokes. At the following European Championships in 1983, Otto finished second in the 100 meter freestyle, behind fellow East German Birgit Meineke
Birgit Meineke
Birgit Meineke was an East German swimmer. She was the fastest female swimmer in the 100 m freestyle between 1980 and 1984.-Career:...

.

In 1984, Otto set a world record in the 200 meter freestyle. She was expected to win gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

 Olympic games, but was unable to compete due to the boycott
1984 Summer Olympics boycott
The boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. The boycott was a follow up to the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The boycott involved 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies, led by the Soviet Union who initiated the boycott on May 8, 1984, and joined...

 by 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including East Germany. In 1985 she fractured her vertebra, rendering her unable to compete for most of the year or attend the European Championships.

Otto returned to competitive swimming at the 1986 World Championships in Madrid, where she won 4 gold medals (100 m freestyle, 200 m individual medley, 4×100 m medley relay and 4×100 m freestyle relay) and 2 silver medals (50 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly). Her success continued the following year at the 1987 European Championships where she won 5 gold medals.

At the 1988 Seoul
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

 Olympic games she once again was expected to win Olympic gold. She won six gold medals, as well as setting world records in the 50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke and 100 m butterfly.

Otto retired from swimming in 1989. She currently works as a sports reporter for German television.

She was named the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 1984, 1986 and 1988 by Swimming World magazine
Swimming World magazine
Swimming World Magazine is an American-based monthly swimming magazine, that was first published in a magazine format as Junior Swimmer in January of 1960...

.

Otto's career was marred by the revelations of widespread performance enhancement drugs use by East German athletes: former teammate Petra Schneider
Petra Schneider
Petra Schneider is a former medley and freestyle swimmer from East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s....

 openly admitted that she had used banned substances. However, Otto stated that she was not aware that she was being doped, saying: "The medals are the only reminder of how hard I worked. It was not all drugs."

See also

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