Christian Schenk (; born 9 February 1965 in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

) is a former decathlete who competed for East Germany and Germany. He won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, held in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Schenk also won a bronze medal at the

1991 World Championships in Athletics The 3rd World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan between August 23 and September 1. 1517 athletes from 167 countries participa ...

in Tokyo. He missed the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

in Barcelona because of an injury and came fourth in the

1993 World Championships in Athletics The 4th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held in the Neckarstadium, Stuttgart, Germany between 13 and 22 August with the participation of 187 nations. Having ori ...

in Stuttgart. His personal best was 8500 points, achieved in August 1993 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. This ranks him ninth among German decathletes, behind

Jürgen Hingsen Jürgen Hingsen (; born 25 January 1958) is a former West German decathlete who won several medals at international championships and Olympic Games in the 1980s, and held the decathlon world record in 1982 and again from 1983 to 1984. His rivalry ...

Uwe Freimuth Uwe Freimuth (; born 10 September 1961 in Rathenow, Bezirk Potsdam) is a retired decathlete from East Germany, who finished in eighteenth place with 7860 points at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Biography He is ranked tenth in t ...

Siegfried Wentz Siegfried "Siggi" Wentz (; born 7 March 1960) is a German former track and field athlete who competed in the decathlon. He is the 1984 Olympic bronze medallist, and a two-time World Championship medallist. Career Wentz was born in Rothenbach ...

Frank Busemann Frank Busemann (; born 26 February 1975 in Recklinghausen) is a former Germany, German decathlon, decathlete. He currently works as a pundit for athletics coverage by German TV channel Das Erste. Busemann started his career as a 110 metres hurd ...

Torsten Voss Torsten Voss (sometimes listed as Thorsten Voss; ; born 24 March 1963 in Güstrow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is an East German-German track and field athlete and bobsledder who competed from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. His biggest success w ...

Guido Kratschmer Guido Kratschmer (; born 10 January 1953 in Klotzenhof, West Germany) is a retired West German decathlete. His sports club was the USC Mainz. Kratschmer competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he won the silver medal in the me ...

, Paul Meier and

Siegfried Stark Siegfried Stark (born 12 June 1955 in Rehna, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a retired East Germany, East German decathlon, decathlete. He won the bronze medals at the European Championships in 1978 European Championships in Athletics, 1978 and 1982 E ...

. Schenk cleared in the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

to share the World Decathlon Best in high jump with

Rolf Beilschmidt Rolf Beilschmidt (born 8 August 1953, in Jena) is a retired East German high jumper. Beilschmidt represented the sports club SC Motor Jena, and became East German champion in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981. Beilschmidt's persona ...

, until the Canadian Olympic high jump gold medalist

Derek Drouin Derek Drouin (born March 6, 1990) is a Canadian track and field athlete who competes in the high jump. He won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and was the 2015 World Champion. He also won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 P ...

improved the record by 1 centimeter in an decathlon competition in 2017. Schenk was noted for his use of the old-fashioned

straddle technique The straddle technique was the dominant style in the high jump before the development of the Fosbury Flop. It is a successor of the Western roll, with which it is sometimes confused. Unlike the scissors or flop style of jump, where the jumper a ...

, at a time when the Fosbury flop had become almost universal in competitive high jumping. He retired in 1994. In August 2018 Schenk confessed that he had used

chlorodehydromethyltestosterone Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (CDMT; brand name Oral Turinabol), also known as 4-chloro-17β-hydroxy17α-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one, is an anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS). It is the 4-chloro-substituted derivative of metandienone (dehyd ...

during his career, his voluntary doping confession was greeted as a positive signal by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

References

External links

* * * 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Rostock East German decathletes Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of East Germany Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Germany Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub