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-devel ...

, 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 organization ...

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 smallest c ...

at the World cup 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 ...

on 6 October 1985. She and teammates

Sabine Rieger The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divid ...

Marlies Göhr Marlies Göhr (née Oelsner, born 21 March 1958 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former East German track and field athlete, the winner of the 100 metres at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world r ...

, and

Ingrid Auerswald Ingrid Auerswald ( Brestrich, born 2 September 1957 in Jena, East Germany) is a retired German athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres. Biography Brestrich-Lange competed for East Germany in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Mos ...

ran a time of 41.37 seconds, which stood as the world record until 2012. She is the 1987

World champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

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, Neub ...

Bezirk Rostock The Bezirk Rostock was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Rostock. History The district was established, with the other 13, on 25 July 1952, substituting the old German states. After 3 October ...

(present-day

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...

). During her career she often stood in the shadows of Göhr, Marita Koch, 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 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 ...

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 and

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24 years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ran ...

. 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 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 ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

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, etc ...

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 Katrin Krabbe (; later Zimmermann, born 22 November 1969) is a German former track and field athlete. She represented East Germany (GDR) at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and went on to win the 100 metres and 200 metres titles at the 1991 World Cham ...

and

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 ...

in a doping 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 for ...

). 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 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 ...

. 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

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

Biography

Achievements

Other results

See also

External links