Bärbel Wöckel ( Eckert; born 21 March 1955 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

) 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. She never ran a world record in the individual disciplines. However, she ran several world records as part of relay teams with Doris Maletzki,

Renate Stecher Renate Stecher (, ; née Meißner, born 12 May 1950) is a German (former East German) sprint runner and a triple Olympic champion. She held 34 world records and was the first woman to run 100 metres within 11 seconds. Biography Born as Renate ...

and Christina Heinich over 4 x 100 meters, the last time on September 8, 1974, in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. At the GDR Championships she took first place in the 4 x 100 meter relay in 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981 to 1984. In 1976 she won third place with the team. During this time she was in the state-organized doping program.

Biography

Wöckel won four Olympic gold medals between the 200 metres race and

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

, two each in the

1976 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 ...

and 1980 Olympics. In each of those years, Wöckel placed first in the 200 m and

races. She won a gold medal at the 1974 European Championships as the anchor of the 4 × 100 m relay, which set a

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 ...

of 42.50. She won the gold in the 200 m and as a part of the 4 × 100 m relay team as well as a

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

at the 1982 European Championships. Bärbel Wöckel competed for the club SC Motor Jena during her active career. Her rival, Marita Koch, complained in a letter that Bärbel received higher doses of steroids than her, because she had relatives in the company

Jenapharm Jenapharm is a pharmaceutical company from Jena, Germany. Founded in 1950 in East Germany, the company focused from the beginning on the production and development of steroids. Due to the economic circumstances of the Eastern Bloc, the company ini ...

Awards Selection

* 1974:

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

(German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) in Bronze * 1976: Patriotic Order of Merit in silver * 1980 and 1984: Patriotic Order of Merit in gold * 2018: DLV-Ehrennadel in gold

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people Athletes from Leipzig East German female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of East Germany Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters Friendship Games medalists in athletics {{Germany-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub

Biography

Awards Selection

See also

References

External links