Marita Koch
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Marita Koch (later Meier-Koch; born 18 February 1957) is a German former sprint
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
athlete. During her career she collected 16
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 ...
s in outdoor sprints as well as 14 world records in indoor events. Her record of 47.60 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 ...
, set on 6 October 1985, still stands.


Biography

Born in
Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...
,
East Germany 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 ...
, Marita Koch displayed exceptional speed even as a young child and was defeating boys much older than herself in sprint races whilst at school. By the time she had turned 15 years old, she was training under Wolfgang Meier. Meier worked as a naval engineer, but also coached athletics part-time. Koch and Meier moved to
Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, c ...
where Koch began to study medicine. However, she decided to stop her studies and focus on running instead. Koch was coached by Meier for her entire career, and they later married. She retained her maiden name, and is now known as Marita Koch-Meier. She and her husband have a daughter named Ulrike. Koch has held world records over several distances from 50 m to
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 ...
. Some of her best performances are as follows: *
100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
10.83 seconds (+1.7) West Berlin (FRG) 8 June 1983 *
200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...
21.71 seconds (+0.7)
Karl Marx Stadt Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
(GDR) 10 June 1979 *
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 ...
47.60 seconds
Bruce Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports v ...
, Canberra (AUS) 6 October 1985 Koch ran a 400 m quarterfinal 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 ...
in
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(51.87 seconds), but withdrew due to injury. She set her first world record in 1977 in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, when she ran a 400 m indoors in 51.8 seconds. The following year, she set her first outdoor record at 400 m in 49.19 seconds. She topped this with another two world records within a month. In 1979 Koch became the first woman to run a 200 m in under 22 seconds. Her time of 21.71 seconds (wind +0.7 m/s) set at Karl Marx Stadt stood as the world record for nine years. She tied her own 200 m world record in 1984 (21.71 seconds +0.3 m/s Potsdam). However, her 200 m world record was equaled twice in 1986 by
Heike Drechsler Heike Gabriela Drechsler (; ; born 16 December 1964) is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany and later Germany. One of the most successful long jumpers of all-time, she is a former world record holder and ranks ...
. One of Drechsler's 21.71 second 200 m performances was achieved into a headwind whereas both of Koch's performances of 21.71 had a tailwind. At the Moscow Olympics of 1980 Koch 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 ...
in the 400 m. Three weeks before the 1984 Olympic Games, she equaled her own record, but the East German boycott prevented her from competing in the games. She also won the
European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...
at 400 m in
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
,
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
and
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
. She remained the European record holder for the 200 m until 28 August 2015 when
Dafne Schippers Dafne Schippers (; born 15 June 1992) is a Dutch track and field athlete. She competes primarily in the sprints, having previously participated in the heptathlon. She is the 2015 and 2017 World Champion and won silver at the 2016 Summer Olym ...
won the 200 m final at the 2015 World Championships with a time of 21.63 seconds. As a member of East Germany's relay teams, Koch also set more world records. They set new world records in the 4 × 100 m in 1979 and 1983. The same team won silver in the
4 × 400 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 ...
in the 1980 Olympic Games. They also set world records over the same distance in 1980, 1982 and 1984. In October 1986, she was awarded a
Star of People's Friendship The Star of People's Friendship (german: Stern der Völkerfreundschaft), Star of Nations' Friendship, was an order awarded by the German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Ge ...
in gold (second class) for her sporting success. Koch retired from running in 1987 as one of Germany's most successful athletes. She had suffered from an
Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...
injury She and Meier own a sports goods store in Rostock.


The 400 m world record run

On 6 October 1985 at the year's
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
meet, Koch set the current 400 m world record of 47.60 seconds. That time is considered far out of reach of even the best of today's athletes. The meet was held at Bruce Stadium in
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
,
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 ...
, which is at 605 metres altitude.START LIST 400 Metres Women – Round 1
, Daegu 2011 (27 August 2011)
2012 Olympic Games Statistics – Women's 400m
Athletics Weekly ''AW'' (formerly ''Athletics Weekly'') is a monthly track and field magazine published in the United Kingdom by Athletics Weekly Limited. The magazine covers news, results, fixtures, coaching and product advice for all aspects of track and field, ...
The world record 400 m run had been well planned, and her basic speed and speed endurance proven in several training runs in the weeks prior. One week prior to her 400 m world record run, anecdotal reports suggest that Koch had run the 200 m in 21.56 seconds (fully automatic time). This 200 m performance was never verified by the
IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
and remains unofficial. In her world record run, Koch, running in lane 2, came out of the blocks at a scorching pace and eliminated the stagger on most of her competitors by the end of the first bend. Her 100 m split time was reported to be 11.3 seconds, while her 200 m split time was reported to be 22.4 seconds. At the halfway point in the race, she had completely destroyed most of a world class field. Her 300 m split was reported to be 34.1 seconds (hand timed), the all-time best performance for this distance. During the final stages of the race, the original video footage only captured Koch and Olga Bryzhina (née Vladykina) of the former
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, who was trailing behind, but closing the gap. The rest of the field had been left so far behind that they were not captured by the camera as Koch and Vladykina crossed the finishing line. Third place was Lillie Leatherwood, more than two seconds behind Vladykina. Koch had gained too much of an advantage in the early stages of the race, and Vladykina was unable to pull in Koch before the finish line. Vladykina also ran her all-time best performance (48.27 seconds) in that race. In a 400 m race, the only women to have broken the 48-second barrier are 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 ...
(47.99 seconds,
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, 1983). Kratochvílová was Koch's main rival over the distance and also a 400 m world record holder in the early 1980s. To this day, no other woman has come within a half a second of Koch.


Drug use controversy

Koch's achievements, along with the performances of many other East German female athletes, have long been under suspicion that they were achieved with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs. These drugs were and remain illegal, but were not detectable at the time. In 1991, German anti-drug activists
Brigitte Berendonk Brigitte Berendonk (born 2 May 1942) is a German Sport of athletics, athlete. She competed in the women's discus throw at the 1968 Summer Olympics and the 1972 Summer Olympics. Publications * References

1942 births Living people Peop ...
and
Werner Franke Werner Wilhelm Franke (31 January 1940 – 14 November 2022) was a German biologist and a professor of cell and molecular biology at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. He was an anti-doping pioneer in Germany. Life Franke was bo ...
were able to save several doctoral theses and other documents written by scientists working for the East German drug research programme. The documents list the dosage and timetables for the administration of anabolic steroids to many athletes of the former DDR, with one of them being Marita Koch. According to the sources, Koch did use the anabolic steroid
Oral-Turinabol Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (CDMT; brand name Oral Turinabol), also known as 4-chloro-17β-hydroxy17α-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one, is an anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS). It is the 4-chloro-substituted derivative of metandienone (dehy ...
(4-Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone) from 1981 to 1984 with dosages ranging from 530 to 1460 mg/year.


See also

* German all-time top lists – 100 metres * German all-time top lists – 200 metres


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koch, Marita 1957 births Living people People from Wismar People from Bezirk Rostock East German female sprinters Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Olympic athletes of East Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for East Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics record holders 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 winners World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters Friendship Games medalists in athletics