Katrin Borchert (born 4 November 1969) is an East German-born

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

sprint canoeist Canoe sprint is a water sport in which athletes race canoes or kayaks on calm water. Overview Race categories vary by the number of athletes in the boat, the length of the course, and whether the boat is a canoe or kayak. Canoe sprints are som ...

who competed from the late 1980s to 2001. Competing in three

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, she won three medals with one silver (

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: K-4 500 m for Germany) and two bronzes (both

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: K-2 500 m,

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: K-1 500 m). During her career, she has represented four countries: East Germany, then West Germany, then Germany followed by Australia. Borchert was born in 1969 in Waren an der Müritz, a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, East Germany. She won the Junior World Championship in 1987 but was overshadowed by Birgit Fischer. Borchert went to 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 ...

in Seoul, Korea, as a reserve for East Germany but did not compete. Her opportunity arose when Fischer went on maternity leave after the Seoul Olympics; she won three gold medals at the 1989 World Championships in

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. Borchert and her coach, Kersten Neumann, went to West Germany for the 1990 season; this was a year prior to the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. From a base in

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, she competed at the 1990 World Championships and won one gold medal and three bronze medals. In 1991, she competed for the reunited Germany and won two gold medals and a bronze medal at the World Championships. Fischer made a return for 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, Spain, and old rivalries became hostile when Borchert lost nomination to Fischer in the K-1 and K-2, and only got nominated for the K-4. Things came to a head when the national coach, Joseph Capousek, did not nominate Borchert for the 1993 World Championships; Capousek was at the time in a relationship with Fischer. Borchert resigned from the national team in 1993 and in February 1994, she emigrated to Australia. Borchert won K-2 500 m and K-2 1000 m events at the 1998 World Championships in Hungary with Anna Wood. They won the K-2 1000 m world champion title in

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. Borchert would win a total of twenty medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with nine golds for four different countries (1989 for East Germany, 1990 for West Germany, 1991-93 for Germany, and 1994–2001 for Australia). At the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

the pairing finished sixth in the K-2 500 m, while she won bronze in the K-1 500 m event. In March 2003, Borchert decided to return to Germany to win nomination for the 2004 German Olympic team. She was prevented from competing for Germany at the 2003 World Championships through the Australian Canoe Federation not granting their permission quickly enough. In 2009 Borchert was inducted into the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame.

References

* * * Wallechinsky, David and Jaime Loucky (2008). "Canoeing: Women's Kayak Pairs 500 Meters." In ''The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition''. London: Aurum Press Limited. p. 493.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borchert, Katrin 1969 births Australian Institute of Sport canoeists Australian female canoeists Australian people of German descent Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics German female canoeists Living people Olympic canoeists of Australia Olympic canoeists of Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in canoeing ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak East German female canoeists West German female canoeists People from Waren (Müritz) Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania