Sigrun Grau (née Ludwigs, then Wodars, born 7 November 1965) is an

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 ...

former middle distance

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 was born Sigrun Ludwigs in

Neu Kaliß Neu Kaliß is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Eu ...

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 ...

. She started out as a 400 m hurdler in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

and finished fourth at the 1981 European Junior Championships. She then switched clubs and changed to the 800 m like her new club mate,

Christine Wachtel Christine Wachtel (born 6 January 1965), is a German track and field athlete who won the silver medal for East Germany at the 1988 Olympic summer games in Seoul in the 800 metres run. Her time of 1:56.64 put her second to her training pa ...

, who would also become her closest rival. Now competing under the name of Wodars, she won her first national title in 1986 and placed second at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, behind

Nadezhda Olizarenko Nadezhda Fyodorovna Olizarenko (Russian: Надежда Фёдоровна Олизаренко, Ukrainian: Надія Федорівна Олізаренко; née Mushta; 28 November 1953 – 18 February 2017) was a Soviet middle-distance runner ...

of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. In 1987, she lost seven out of eight times to Wachtel, but the race she won was the

World Championships 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, ...

in Rome, defeating her in a close finish. The two repeated their one-two finish 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 ...

. Wodars completed her set of titles by also winning the 1990 European Championships in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

, her last title. She divorced and took part as Sigrun Grau in the 1991 World Championships and the

1992 Olympics 1992 Olympics may refer to: *1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona, Spain *1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 ...

, reaching the semi-finals both times. She retired after the Barcelona Olympics and currently works as a

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wodars, Sigrun 1965 births Living people People from Ludwigslust-Parchim People from Bezirk Schwerin East German female middle-distance runners Sportspeople from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Olympic athletes of East Germany Olympic athletes of Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold World Athletics Championships winners