Kristin Otto (German pronunciation:[ˈkʁɪstɪnˈʔɔtoː]ⓘ; born 7 February 1966)[1] is a former German swimmer, becoming Olympic, World and European champion, multiple times. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the1988 Seoul Olympic Games.[2][3] Inlong course, she held the world records in the100 meter and200 meter freestyle events. Otto was also the first woman to swim theshort course 100 meter backstroke in under a minute,[2] doing so at an international short course meet atIndiana University in 1983.[4]
Otto was born inLeipzig,Bezirk Leipzig (present-daySachsen), East Germany, and began swimming at the age of 11, training in anEast German sports academy. At sixteen, she participated in her first world championships, the1982 World Aquatics Championships, winning the gold medal in the 100 meter backstroke as well as two additional gold medals in the 4×100 m relays with the East German team.
After 1982, Otto changed coaches and began concentrating on other speed strokes. At the following European Championships in 1983, Otto finished second in the 100 meter freestyle, following her fellowEast German,Birgit Meineke.
In 1984, Otto set a world record in the 200 meter freestyle. She was expected to win gold medals at the1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, but was unable to compete due to theboycott by 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including East Germany. In 1985 she fractured a vertebra, keeping her from competing for most of the year or to go to the European Championships.
Otto returned to competitive swimming at the 1986 World Championships in Madrid, where she won 4 gold medals (100 m freestyle, 200 m individual medley, 4×100 m medley relay and 4×100 m freestyle relay) and 2 silver medals (50 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly). Her success continued the following year at the 1987 European Championships where she won 5 gold medals.
At the1988 Seoul Olympic Games she once again was expected to win Olympic gold. She won six gold medals, as well as setting Olympic records in the 50 m freestyle and 100 m butterfly.[1][5]
Otto retired from swimming in 1989.[6] She currently works as a sports reporter for German television.
Otto's career was marred by the revelations of widespread performance-enhancing drugs used by East German athletes: former teammatePetra Schneider openly admitted that she had used banned substances. However, Otto stated that she was not aware that she was being doped and she passed all the doping tests during competition, saying: "The medals are the only reminder of how hard I worked. It was not all drugs."[8]
