Petra Schersing (née Müller, born 18 October 1965 in

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

) is a retired

East German 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 ...

sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. She represented sports club SC Chemie Halle and was coached by Harold Werner. At the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

in Seoul, she won a silver medal in the 400 metres and a bronze medal in the 4×400 metres relay.

Biography

As Petra Muller, she first achieved international recognition, when she became the 1983 European Junior Champion at 400 metres. She also won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay. In 1986, at the European Indoor Championships, she won a silver medal behind teammate

Sabine Busch Sabine Busch (later Ascui; born 21 November 1962, in Erfurt) is a retired East German athlete, who specialised in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. In 1987, she became the World Champion at 400 m hurdles and the World ...

. Later that year at the European Championships in Stuttgart, she won a bronze medal in the individual 400 metres and a gold medal in the relay, with teammates

Kirsten Emmelmann Kirsten Emmelmann ( Siemon; born 19 April 1961 in Warnemünde, Bezirk Rostock) is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany in the 1980s in the 400 meter sprint. Her biggest success came as a member of the 4 ...

, Sabine Busch and Marita Koch. At the 1987 World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, she surprisingly failed to reach the final. At the 1987 World Championships in Rome she won a silver medal in the 400 m behind

Olga Bryzgina Olha Bryzhina ( uk, Ольга Бризгіна, maiden name Olga Arkad'evna Vladykina; russian: Ольга Аркадьевна Владыкина; born June 30, 1963 in Krasnokamsk, Perm Oblast) is a retired athlete who represented Soviet Uni ...

as well as another relay gold medal alongside Dagmar Neubauer, Emmelmann and Busch. Muller won her biggest individual title in 1988, when she became the European Indoor Champion in 50.28 secs, which at the time ranked her fourth on the indoor all-time list. At the 1988 Olympics she won the silver medal in the 400 m, between

Soviet 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 nation ...

(

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

) and Olga Nazarova ( bronze). She also won the bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay, with teammates Neubauer, Emmelmann and Busch. In 1990, now competing as Petra Schersing, she won a silver medal at the European Championships in Split, finishing behind her teenage teammate

Grit Breuer Grit Breuer (later Springstein, born 16 February 1972 in Röbel, Bezirk Neubrandenburg) is a German former athlete, who competed in the women's 200 metres, 400 metres, 4×100 m relay, and 4×400 m relay events. She has received injuries a ...

and won a gold medal in the relay, with new teammates Manuela Derr,

Annett Hesselbarth Annett Hesselbarth (born 4 June 1966 in Halle) is a retired German sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. At the 1990 European Championships in Athletics in Split she finished fourth in 400 m and won the 4x400 m relay for East Germany togeth ...

and Breuer. Schersing's personal best time in the 400 metres is 49.30 seconds, achieved in June 1988 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 ...

, which at that time placed her tenth on the all-time list. She won the East German National 400 m title three times (1986–1988) and twice won the East German indoor 400 m title (1986, 1988). As of 2013, Schersing's Outdoor best (49.30) is 21st on the World all-time list and third on the German all-time list, only behind Marita Koch and

.,Top 10 lists in German athletics
– Deutschen Leichtathletik-Verband while her indoor best (50.28) is tenth on the World indoor all-time list and second on the German indoor all-time list, behind Sabine Busch. In October 1988, she married fellow Olympic sprinter Mathias Schersing.

International competitions

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schersing, Petra 1965 births Living people East German female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for East Germany People from Quedlinburg Sportspeople from Saxony-Anhalt Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century German politicians World Athletics Championships winners 21st-century German women