Christina Lathan (née Brehmer; born 28 February 1958) is a retired

East German 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 ...

sprinter who specialised in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

. Born in

Altdöbern Altdöbern (Lower Sorbian ''Stara Darbnja'') is a municipality in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Altdöbern lies in Lower Lusatia, but is not part of its sorbian inhabited area. The flat landsca ...

, Brehmer started training in 1969 at the sports club SG Dynamo Senftenberg, and was transferred to

SC Dynamo Berlin The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was the largest sports club of SV Dynamo, the sports association of the security agencies. The club was disbanded after German reunification and even ...

in 1973. At the 1975 European Junior Championships she won three

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 ...

s, in 400 m,

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

and

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

. In 1976 she set world record 49.77 seconds, first electronic time under 50 seconds. The record was broken by

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Irena Szewińska Irena Szewińska (née Kirszenstein; Polish pronunciation: ; 24 May 1946 – 29 June 2018) was a Polish Sprint (running), sprinter who was one of the world's foremost athletes for nearly two decades, in multiple events. She is the only athl ...

a month later. At the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

she won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the 400 m behind Irena Szewinska, as well as a gold medal in the 4 x 400 m relay with her teammates

Brigitte Rohde Brigitte Köhn ( Rohde; born 8 October 1954 in Prenzlau, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a retired East German sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres and later 400 metres hurdles. She won a gold medal in 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1974 E ...

, 400 m

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

ist

Ellen Streidt Ellen Streidt ( Stropahl later Wendland, born 27 July 1952 in Wittstock, Bezirk Potsdam) is a retired East German sprinter who specialised in the 200 metres and 400 metres. At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, she finished fourth in the ...

and

Doris Maletzki Doris Maletzki (for some time Brachmann, born 11 June 1952 in Salzwedel) is a retired East German sprinter who specialised in the 200 metres. She won a gold medal in 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1974 European Championships, together with team ...

. The next year Lathan won another relay gold medal at the IAAF World Cup 1977. At the 1978 European Championships she won a silver medal in the individual event and another gold medal in 4 x 400 m relay, together with teammates Christiane Marquardt, Barbara Krug and

Marita Koch Marita Koch (later Meier-Koch; born 18 February 1957) is a German former sprint track and field athlete. During her career she collected 16 world records in outdoor sprints as well as 14 world records in indoor events. Her record of 47.60 in th ...

. She then duplicated her World Cup success at the

1979 IAAF World Cup The 2nd IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on August 24–26, 1979, at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Overall resu ...

. She returned to the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

and won a bronze medal in the 400 m behind Marita Koch and

Jarmila Kratochvílová Jarmila Kratochvílová (; born 26 January 1951, in Golčův Jeníkov) is a Czech people, Czech former track and field athlete. She won the 400 metres and 800 metres at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics, 1983 World Championships, setting a ...

. In the 4 x 400 m relay she was the sole survivor of the 1976 winning team and could only win the silver medal with her teammates Gabriele Löwe, Barbara Krug and Marita Koch.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lathan, Christina 1958 births Living people People from Altdöbern People from Bezirk Cottbus East German female sprinters Sportspeople from Brandenburg Olympic athletes for East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver Universiade bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters SC Dynamo Berlin athletes