Renate Stecher

Born as Renate Meißner, she was a very talented athlete, also competing in the high jump and pentathlon[?]. She debuted internationally at the 1969 European Championships, where she - as a last minute substitute - won a silver medal in the 200 m and a gold in the 4 x 100 m relay.

At the next European Championships, in 1971, she won both the 100 m and 200 m and the silver in the relay. At that time, she was already competing as Renate Stecher, having married hurdler Gerd Stecher[?] the previous year.

At the 1972 Summer Olympics, Stecher repeated that performance. She won the 100 m in time of 11,07, which was only in 1976 recognised as World Record, which had been measured in tenths of seconds before (the times in tenths were later corrected). The following year, Stecher set World Records in both sprint events, also becoming the first woman to beat 11 seconds.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics, Stecher again competed in the three sprint events, winning medals in all three once again. She was beaten for the 100 m title by Annegret Richter, and came third in a 200 m race with five German women in the first five positions. With the 4 x 100 m relay team, they beat West Germany, taking revenge for the race four year earlier.

In the 1990s, it was revealed that Stecher, as many other East German athletes, had been given anabolic steroids.