Jutta Lau (born 28 September 1955 in Wustermark) is a German rower, who competed for the SG Dynamo Potsdam /

Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo The Sportvereinigung Dynamo () (''Dynamo Sports Association'') was the sport association of the security agencies (Volkspolizei, Ministry for State Security, fire department and customs) of former East Germany. The association was founded on 27 ...

. She won the medals at the international rowing competitions. She retired from competitive rowing after 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 from September 1980, she worked as a rowing coach in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

. She graduated with a diploma in physical education from the Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur (DHfK) in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

in 1981. She later became the sculls trainer for the national women's team. She was thus responsible for preparing the sculls team for the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, USA. Classification earlier in the year determined that

Kathrin Boron Kathrin Boron (born 4 November 1969 in Eisenhüttenstadt, East Germany) is a German sculler, and four-time Olympic gold medallist. She's an athlete of the SV Dynamo / SG Dynamo Potsdam. Boron won the women's double sculls at the 1992 Summer Oly ...

was the strongest sculler, followed by

Jana Thieme Jana Thieme (born 6 July 1970) is a German rower and Olympic champion. Thieme travelled to Barcelona for the 1992 Summer Olympics as a substitute but did not compete. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She won a gold medal in double scul ...

, Katrin Rutschow, and Kerstin Köppen. Guided by the principle that the strongest sculler should row in the singles, her preference was for Boron, but Boron preferred to row in the double or quad. Lau thus nominated Thieme for the single, Koppen and Boron would make the double, and Koppen, Boron, Rutschow and

Jana Sorgers Jana Sorgers (married name Jana Sorgers-Rau, born 4 August 1967) is a German rower who was a dominant sculler of her time, starting her career for the East German rowing team and continuing after the German reunification for the combined Germa ...

were to make up the quad. Dr Ralf Kollmann, who as sports director was responsible for nominating the teams, rejected these teams and wanted rowers picked so that more clubs were represented. Germany's national rowing organisation (Deutscher Ruderverband) nominated

Meike Evers Meike Evers (born 6 June 1977 in Berlin) is a German rower who was co-winner of two Olympic gold medals. She is currently a police detective and member of the "Athlete Committee" of the World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency ( ...

for the single, and Thieme and

Manuela Lutze Manuela Lutze (born 20 March 1974 in Blankenburg am Harz, East Germany) is a multi Olympic-medaling sculler who competed in four Olympics, winning two gold medals and a bronze medal. In addition, she has also won 5 Gold Medals in ...

, and for the quad the team recommended by Lau. Evers had come eighth or ninth in Lau's classification, and Lau predicted that Evers would not reach the A-final (she only made the C-final). Lau further predicted that the double would at best come fourth (they came fifth). Her final prediction was that the quad would win gold, which they did. By Lau's best assessment, had her suggested teams been accepted, all three boats would probably have won medals. After the Atlanta Olympics, she accused Kollmann of incompetence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lau, Jutta 1955 births Living people East German female rowers Olympic medalists in rowing World Rowing Championships medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic rowers for East Germany Rowers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1980 Summer Olympics People from Havelland Sportspeople from Brandenburg