Renate Stecher

East German track-and-field champion. She was a top international sprinter, undefeated in the 100 and 200m (1970–74); won the Olympic gold medal in both the 100 and 200m (1972) and 4x100m relay; won Olympic silver in the 100m, bronze in the 200m, and silver in the 4x100m relay (1976).

She ran the first sub-11-second 100 meters ever -clocked a hand-timed 10.9 seconds- in 1973. Renate Stecher is among the elite group of women sprinters have won Olympic gold in both the 100 and 200 meters, including Fanny Blankers-Koen (1948), Marjorie Jackson (1952), Betty Cuthbert (1956), Wilma Rudolph (1960), Florence Griffith-Joyner (1988), and Elaine Thompson (2016). She held the 100 meters world record for nearly three years between 1973 and 1976, and during her career she set 34 world records in various distances both indoors and out, including relays. Renate Stecher retired after the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

PERSONAL BESTS

100m: 10.8

200m: 22.38  

TRIVIA

♦ She had been coached by Horst-Dieter Hille who focused on the development of stride frequency.

♦ Renate married to hurdler Gerd Stecher and have two daughters.

♦ After her active sports career, Stecher studied sports science and worked as a sports teacher.

♦ In 2011 she was inducted into German Sports Hall of Fame.

Text by Evren Özüyener