Gesine Walther (born 6 October 1962) is a retired German
sprinter.
Biography
In
1982 Walther became the first European indoor champion in the
200 m event. At the
1982 European Championships she finished fifth in the
100 m, fourth in the
200 m and won a
gold medal in the
4 × 100 m relay
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
together with teammates
Bärbel Wöckel
Bärbel Wöckel ( Eckert; born 21 March 1955 in Leipzig) is a retired East German sprinter. She never ran a world record in the individual disciplines. However, she ran several world records as part of relay teams with Doris Maletzki ...
,
Sabine Günther and
Marlies Göhr
Marlies Göhr (née Oelsner, born 21 March 1958 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former East German track and field athlete, the winner of the 100 metres at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world r ...
. The team finished in 42.19 seconds with Walther running the first leg.
On 3 June 1984 in
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
, Walther, together with Sabine Busch, Dagmar Rübsam and Marita Koch, set a
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
in the 4 × 400 m relay of 3:15.92 minutes. Both the world record and the
European record was improved at the
1988 Olympics.
Walther represented the sports club
SC Turbine Erfurt, and won
silver medals at the East German championships in 1984 (100 m) and 1980 and 1982 (200 m). Her personal best times were 11.13 in the 100 m, achieved in August 1982 in
Cottbus
Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...
, 22.24 in the 200 m, achieved in July 1982 in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
and 50.03 in the
400 m
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...
, achieved in May 1984 in
Jena
Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...
.
World women's all-time best 400m (last updated 2001)
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Walther is 1.76 metres tall; during her active career she weighed 65 kg.
See also
* German all-time top lists - 200 metres
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walther, Gesine
1962 births
Living people
East German female sprinters
People from Weißenfels
World Athletics Championships medalists
European Athletics Championships medalists
Sportspeople from Saxony-Anhalt