Ute Geweniger (later Strauß, born 24 February 1964) is a former breaststroke and medley swimmer who was a leading member of the East German swimming team in the 1980s. She won two Olympic gold medals, in the 100 m breaststroke and 4×100 m medley relay at the 1980 Summer Olympics in

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, and set seven individual and two relay

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. She was named by '' Swimming World Magazine'' as World Swimmer of the Year in 1983 and as the European Swimmer of the Year in 1981 and 1983. In 2005, she admitted that her performance had been supported by doping.Former Swimmer Wants Record Abolished
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, 22 December 2005 Geweniger was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt,

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, and came to prominence when she set a world record in the 100 m breaststroke in qualifying for the East German team for the 1980 Summer Olympics in

. There she captured gold, setting another world record in the process. She then combined with Rica Reinisch, Andrea Pollack and Caren Metschuck to claim gold in the medley relay, also in world record time. In 1981, she broke the 100 m breaststroke world record thrice, and the 200 m individual medley world record, prior to the European Championships in

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, Croatia, Yugoslavia. There she claimed gold in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke (breaking a world record in the former), 200 m individual medley, medley relay, as well as a silver in the 400 m individual medley behind team-mate Petra Schneider. At the World Championships the following year in

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, she won gold in both the 100 m breaststroke and the medley relay, combining with Ines Geißler, Birgit Meineke and

Kristin Otto Kristin Otto (; born 7 February 1966) is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

to again lower the world record. At the 1983 European Championships in

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, she again won the breaststroke double, the 200 m individual medley and the 4×100 m medley relay, setting a world record in the 100 m breaststroke. Geweniger was tipped for further Olympic success, but her career was ended when the Soviet bloc, including East Germany, staged a retaliatory boycott of the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

held in

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geweniger, Ute 1964 births Living people Sportspeople from Chemnitz Doping cases in swimming German sportspeople in doping cases Olympic swimmers of East Germany Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany East German female breaststroke swimmers East German female medley swimmers World record setters in swimming Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic gold medalists in swimming Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold