Heike Gabriela Drechsler née Daute (born 16 December 1964 in Gera, Thuringia, then East Germany) is a German track and field athlete. She is one of the most successful female long jumpers of all time and also had several successes in sprint disciplines.
Biography [edit]
She is the only woman who has won two Olympic gold medals in the long jump (1992 and 2000). She also won two World Championships in the long jump (1983 and 1993), as well as gold medals in the long jump and the 200 m sprint in the World Indoor Championships 1987. In addition, she had numerous successes in European and German championships.
Drechsler's greatest rival in the long jump was Jackie Joyner-Kersee, with whom she was also very good friends.
In 1986, Drechsler twice equalled Marita Koch's 200 metres sprint (21.71 seconds) world record and set two long jump world records and equalled one in 1985 and 1986. As of 2000[update], she had more than four hundred long jump competitions with results over seven meters, more than any other female athlete. According to an article written by Ron Casey (Australian Statitician), In 1986 Drechsler made significant improvements to her 100m and 200m times. In one season she went from 11.75 second 100m to running 10.91 seconds. Her 200m time improved from 23.19 seconds to 21.71 seconds in the 1986 season. Her 21.71 second performance for 200m was run into a head wind (-0.8 m/s) cf. Marita Koch's 21.71 second run in 1979 which had a tail wind. Drechsler's 200m performance of 21.71 seconds into a head wind is one of the fastest ever run by a Woman.
As teenager she was active in the Free German Youth (FDJ) and in 1984 she was elected to the Volkskammer of East Germany.
Several German websites, including her own, claim that Heike Drechsler was voted "Athlete of the Century" in 1999 by the IAAF. This is not quite correct: she was put on the "shortlist" [1], but the award was given to Fanny Blankers-Koen [2].
Personal Records [edit]
Long Jump [edit]
1983: 7.14 m (23 ft 5 in) in Bratislava / (Juniors)
1985: 7.44 m (24 ft 5 in) in Berlin
1986: 7.45 m (24 ft 5 1⁄4 in) in Tallinn
1988: 7.48 m (24 ft 6 1⁄2 in) in Neubrandenburg[1]
1992: 7.63 m (25 ft 1⁄2 in) in Sestriere[1]
Drechsler's 1992 jump in Sestriere was made with a tailwind of 2.1 meters per second, over the allowable level to be considered a world record; it was also performed at an altitude of greater than 1000 meters above sea level, which is the level beyond which marks are designated to have been achieved "at altitude." The jump is 11 cm longer than the current world record.
200-meter run [edit]
1986: 21.71 seconds in Jena[2][3][4]
1986: 21.71 seconds in Stuttgart[2][4]
Heptathlon [edit]
1981: 5891 Points (Junior)
1994: 6741 Points in Talence
Doping allegations [edit]
There were many accusations of drug use while she competed for East Germany. She has never failed a drug test during her career; it is to be noted however that all East German athletes competing abroad were tested before departure to avoid getting caught [3] In 2001, the BBC claimed she has admitted to unknowingly taking prohibited substances in the early 1980s under orders from her team doctors.[5]
In 1991, after the fall of East Germany, Brigitte Berendonk and Werner Franke found several theses and dissertations quoting former GDR doping researchers in the Military Medical Academy Bad Saarow (MMA). The basis of the work reconstructed state-organized doping practices involving many well-known GDR athletes, including Heike Drechsler. Indications were that Heike Drechsler used high doses Oral Turinabol plus more testosterone ester injections before competitions from 1982 to 1984.[6] In 1993, Drechsler challenged Brigitte Berendonk, accusing her of lying in a lawsuit.[7] In the case, the full annual dosage schedules, and charts of the development of sport performance as a function of the dosage amount were released. Drechsler lost the lawsuit.[8][9]
Gallery [edit]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=o/age=n/season=0/sex=W/all=y/legal=A/disc=LJ/detail.html IAAF All time stats
- ^ a b ""Ewige" Bestenliste der deutschen Leichtathletik". leichtathletik.de. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ "National Lists of Germany (Men)". apulanta.fi. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ a b "Track and Field all-time". alltime-athletics.com. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/specials/european_athletics/2082599.stm BBC
- ^ Brigitte Berendonk: Doping documents - From Scientific Research to Cheating. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-540-53742-2, p. 125, Table 7
- ^ ↑ Cf Uwe Mueller / Grit Hartman: Forward and forget it! Kader, spies and accomplices - The dangerous legacy of the SED dictatorship, Berlin 2009, p. 215
- ^ ↑ Brigitte Berendonk: Doping documents - From Scientific Research to Cheating. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-540-53742-2, p. 122, Fig 6
- ^ ↑ Brigitte Berendonk: Doping documents - From Scientific Research to Cheating. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-540-53742-2, p. 133, Figure 11
External links [edit]
| Persondata |
| Name |
Drechsler, Heike |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
German long jumper |
| Date of birth |
16 December 1964 |
| Place of birth |
|
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
|
East Germany
Germany
