 | You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in German. (December 2021)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
 Karin Balzer at the East German track and field athletics Olympic preselections inHalle an der Saale in October 1963 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 June 1938 (1938-06-05) Magdeburg, Germany |
| Died | 17 December 2019 (2019-12-18) (aged 81) |
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | 80, 100 m hurdles |
| Club | SC DHfK SC Leipzig |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personalbest(s) | 80 mH – 10.61 (1968) 100 mH – 12.6 (1971) |
Karin Balzer (néeRichert; 5 June 1938 – 17 December 2019)[1] was anEast Germanhurdler who competed in the 80 m hurdles event at the 1960, 1964 and 1968 Olympics, and in the 100 m hurdles in 1972. She won a gold medal in 1964 and a bronze in 1972, while finishing fifth in 1968. During her career she set 37 world's best performances.[2]
She was born Karin Richert inMagdeburg, and competed in severaltrack and field events in her teens. She showed her best results in the 80 m hurdles and qualified for the1960 Summer Olympics. TheUnited Team of Germany then included athletes of both East andWest Germany. She finished fourth in her Olympic semifinal and narrowly missed the final.[2]
The following year, she married her coach, retired pole vaulter, Karl-Heinz Balzer. Some years earlier, they had briefly fled the DDR, but had returned weeks later. Now competing as Karin Balzer, she won her first international medal, silver, at the1962 European Athletics Championships. In 1964, she tied theworld record in the hurdles during apentathlon competition. Despite showing good results she never competed in pentathlon at major meets.
At theTokyo Olympics that same year, she placed first in the final of the 80 m hurdles. In a close finish, the first three runners all timed 10.5 seconds, equal to the world record (although the record was not ratified due to a wind). Electronic timing showed Balzer had beaten the two other medalists by one and two hundredths of a second, respectively.[3]
Two years later, Balzer won a second title at the1966 European Athletics Championships, and then placed fifth in the 1968Olympic final; she was theOlympic flag bearer for East Germany at those Games. That was the last major event in which the high hurdles were run over 80 m; from 1969 on, the event became the 100 m. Balzer set the inaugural world record in that event, in June 1969, then subsequently lowered it twice during that same year. She also successfully defended her European title inAthens, which she repeated inHelsinki in 1971.[2] That year she was votedGerman Sportspersonality of the Year.
While in training for the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich, Balzer's son, Andreas was involved in an accident, and was comatised. He died the day before the final of the 100 m hurdles, but her husband did not tell her until after the race, in which she won her second Olympic medal, bronze.[2] Balzer's second son,Falk Balzer (born 1973)[4] also became a hurdler. His best achievement was a second place in the 110 m hurdles at the 1998 European Championships.[4]
Balzer was trained as a chemist, and worked as a lab technician from 1955 to 1961. From 1961 until 1976 she was a sports school teacher inFrankfurt and then inLeipzig. In parallel, from 1970 to 1976 she studied atDeutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur (DHfK) and earned a degree in physical education, and from 1973 to 1976 coached athletics atSC Leipzig together with her husband. They were suspended in 1976 after refusing to administeranabolic steroids to their trainees, and moved to Dresden, where Balzer worked as a school teacher through the 1970s and 80s. From 1991 to 1993 she lectured at the BAW Saxony, and from 1994 to 1997 at the Cologne business school. In 1997 Karin and Karl Balzer were reinstated as athletics coaches.[2] Karl died in 2007.[4]
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's 100m Hurdles World Record Holder 20 June 1969 – 20 June 1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Women's 100m Hurdles World Record Holder 26 July 1970 – 28 June 1972 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | East German Sportswoman of the Year 1971 | Succeeded by |
| Sporting positions | ||
| Preceded by | Women's 100m Hurdles Best Year Performance 1971 | Succeeded by |
European Athletics Championships champions in women'ssprint hurdles | |
|---|---|
| 80 m hurdles(1938–66) |
|
| 100 m hurdles(since 1969) |
|
European Athletics Championships champions in women'ssprint hurdles | |
|---|---|
| 80 m hurdles(1938–66) |
|
| 100 m hurdles(since 1969) |
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
