Marita Koch

East German sprint sensation. Broke 30 world records in her career, took 400m Olympic gold in 1980. In European champs, she owned 10 gold medals, indoor and outdoor combined. Especially in indoor circumstances, she was almost impossible to beat in every sprint discipline, took all titles from 50 metres to 400 metres. Retired from athletics in 1986. 

She broke 400m world record in Australian capital Canberra in October 1985 at World Cup race. Koch clocked 47.60 as slashed nearly 0.4 second from existing record held by Jarmila Kratochvilova (47.99). During her record run in Canberra, she had passed 22.4 in first half. 

Meanwhile, some unveils after GDR collapse, showed Marita Koch also part of widely-used systematical doping system in her country. Always been under suspicion, despite never officially accepted by herself, German anti-drug activists published several materials about DDR athletes supplement list, which was included Koch's oral-turinabol intake at early 1980s. 

PERSONAL BESTS
(according World Athletics data)
100 metres: 10.83 (1.7) in Berlin 1983
200 metres: 21.71 (9.7) in Karl Marx Stadt 1979
400 metres: 47.60 in Canberra 1985 - WR
4x100 metres: 41.53 in Berlin 1983
4x400 metres: 3:15.92 in Erfurt 1984
60 metres indoor: 7.04 in Senftenberg in 1985
200 metres indoor: 22.39 in Budapest 1983
400 metres indoor: 51.14 San Sebastian in 1977

NOTES
♦ Married to her coach, Wolfgang Meier, an SC Empor Rostock trainer.
♦ Before the athletics, she was a handball player.
♦ Competed Olympics two times; in Montreal and Moscow.
♦ Opened a sports good store in Rostock after retired from sport. (2000)
♦ Won 19 national titles in GDR (10 indoors, 9 outdoors)
♦ In 2014 she inducted to IAAF Hall of Fame.
♦ Awarded Honorary Citizenship of Wismar (1988)