Karin Krebs ( Burneleit, born 18 August 1943) 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 ...

middle-distance runner. She won the 800 metres race at the

1968 European Indoor Games The 1968 European Indoor Games were held between 9–10 March 1968 at Palacio de Deportes, Madrid, the capital of Spain. The track used for the championships was 182 metres long. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Participating nations ...

, but failed to reach the 800 m Olympic final the same year. She then focused on the 1500 m event and won it at the 1971 European Championships, setting a new

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 ...

at 4:09.6 minutes. She placed fourth at the 1972 Olympics, and her world record was broken earlier in July 1972 by the future Olympic gold medalist

Lyudmila Bragina Lyudmila Ivanovna Bragina (russian: Людмила Ивановна Брагина, born 24 July 1943) is a retired Soviet and Russian middle distance runner. She competed for the Soviet Union in the 1500 m at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics; she won ...

. Krebs had her last intentional success in 1974 when she won the silver medal over 1500 m at the European Indoor Championships. Domestically Krebs won the East German 800 m title in 1968 outdoors and in 1966 and 1968 indoors. She also held the national 1500 m indoor title in 1971 and 1974.East German indoor championships, women's 1500 metres
– Sport-Komplett. Retrieved 2 August 2008. While passing the

gender test Sex verification in sports (also known as gender verification, or loosely as gender determination or a sex test) occurs because eligibility of athletes to compete is restricted whenever sporting events are limited to a single sex, which is gen ...

at the 1968 Olympics Krebs learned that she was three-month pregnant. After the 1972 Olympics she married her teammate, long-distance runner Joachim Krebs. Their daughter Nadja (born 1976) also became a runner. Krebs was a

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

by profession, but worked for the East German Track and Field Association. After the

Unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

in 1990 she became a self-employed sports and event manager.

References

1943 births Living people People from Gusev Sportspeople from East Prussia East German female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for East Germany European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for East Germany Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze East German Athletics Championships winners {{Germany-middledistance-athletics-bio-stub