Silke Möller ( Gladisch, born 20 June 1964) is a German
athlete
An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance.
Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-dev ...
, who in the 1980s competed for
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 ...
as one of the best female
sprinters in the world. She was a member of the East German quartet that broke the
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 organizati ...
in the
4 × 100 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 smalles ...
at the World cup in
Canberra on 6 October 1985. She and teammates
Sabine Rieger,
Marlies Göhr, and
Ingrid Auerswald ran a time of 41.37 seconds, which stood as the world record until 2012. She is the 1987
World champion at both 100 metres and 200 metres.
Biography
Moller was born in
Stralsund
Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund ( German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, ...
,
Bezirk Rostock (present-day
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). During her career she often stood in the shadows of Göhr,
Marita Koch
Marita Koch (later Meier-Koch; born 18 February 1957) is a German former sprint track and field athlete. During her career she collected 16 world records in outdoor sprints as well as 14 world records in indoor events. Her record of 47.60 in th ...
, and
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 ...
. Only in 1987, while still using her maiden name Gladisch, did she come into her own: at the track and field world championship of 1987 she won two titles – in the
100 m sprint and the
200 m sprint, as well as second place with the 4 × 100 m relay team. With these results she was chosen as the East German sportswoman of the year.
Möller's 200m final performance at Rome in 1987 was exceptionally fast, she stopped the clock at 21.74 seconds. She had won the race by several meters and defeated a world class field including
Florence Griffith
Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete. She set world records in 1988 for the 100 m and 200 m. During the late 1 ...
and
Merlene Ottey. Her time of 21.74 seconds was only just outside the then world record of 21.71 held by Marita Koch and Heike Drechsler.
At the
1988 Summer Olympics in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
she won the
silver medal
A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, e ...
as a member of the East German 4 × 100 m relay team (she had at that time taken the name Möller).
In 1992 she was implicated with
Katrin Krabbe and
Grit Breuer in a
doping
Doping may refer to:
* Doping, adding a dopant to something
* Doping (semiconductor), intentionally introducing impurities into an extremely pure semiconductor to change its electrical properties
* Aircraft dope, a lacquer that is applied to fabr ...
scandal, but was later cleared by the International Athletic Federation (
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 fo ...
). Shortly before 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 ...
she quit her athletic career and began to study history in
Rostock. She worked as a history and sports teacher. She has a daughter.
Möller represented the Empor Rostock sport club and trained under Wolfgang Meier (Marita Koch's coach and now husband). While she was actively competing, she was 1.63 metres tall and weighed 57 kilograms.
Achievements
Other results
*1981 Junior European champion in the 4 × 100 m relay (43.77 seconds)
*1985 European Cup: winner in the 4 × 100 m relay
*1987 European Cup winner in the 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay
See also
*
German all-time top lists – 100 metres
*
German all-time top lists – 200 metres
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moller, Silke
1964 births
Living people
People from Stralsund
People from Bezirk Rostock
East German female sprinters
Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Olympic athletes of East Germany
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists for East Germany
World Athletics Championships medalists
World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
European Athletics Championships medalists
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver
World Athletics Championships winners
Olympic female sprinters
SC Empor Rostock athletes