Ilona Longo (née Schoknecht, divorced Briesenick and Slupianek; born 24 September 1956) is a German former

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

ter who represented East Germany. As Ilona Slupianek, she won the 1980 Olympic title in Moscow and won European titles in 1978 and 1982. She is also a seven-time GDR champion. She twice broke the world record with puts of 22.36 metres and 22.45 metres in 1980. She was suspended for a year for doping.

Career

Born in Demmin, in the East German

Bezirk Neubrandenburg The Bezirk Neubrandenburg was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Neubrandenburg. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. Aft ...

, as Ilona Schoknecht she finished fifth at the

1976 Montreal 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 ...

with 20.54m. In 1977, she was disqualified after she tested positive for anabolic steroids at the European Cup meeting in Helsinki, where she dominated her event with a superlative 21.20. The International Amateur Athletics Federation suspended Slupianek for 12 months, a penalty that ended two days before the 1978 European championships in Prague. In the reverse of what the IAAF hoped, sending her home to East Germany meant she was free to train unchecked with anabolic steroids, if she wanted to, and then compete for another gold medal. Now competing as Ilona Slupianek, she did win the gold medal in Prague, with a put of 21.41m. She went on to win the European Indoor title in 1979.Matthews, P. e.o. (1993) ''The Guinness International Who's Who of Sport'' Guinness Publishing Ltd She then 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 ...

at 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 ...

in Moscow. In the next years she obtained gold at the European Indoor Championships in 1981 and the European Championships in 1982, followed by a

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 ...

at the

1983 World Championships The 1st 1983 World Championships in Athletics were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983. Summary The overall me ...

. In 1984, she married fellow GDR shot putter

Hartmut Briesenick Hartmut Briesenick (17 March 1949 in Luckenwalde, Brandenburg – 8 March 2013) was an East German athlete who mainly competed in the men's shot put event. Briesenick competed for East Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany ...

. Competing as Ilona Briesenick, she won her final major medal when winning silver at the 1987 World Indoor Championships. From 1976 to 1986 she was a deputy in the East German legislature, the Volkskammer, for the FDJ. She married for the third time in 2008. As of 2013, she lives in Italy. She had one daughter with Briesenick.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slupianek, Ilona 1956 births Living people People from Demmin Free German Youth members Members of the 7th Volkskammer Members of the 8th Volkskammer East German female shot putters Olympic athletes of East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for East Germany German sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics German sportsperson-politicians Female members of the Volkskammer Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists World record setters in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners Universiade gold medalists for East Germany World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade

Career

See also

References