Petra Thümer

Petra Thümer

Petra Thümer in 1976
Personal information
Nationality	East Germany
Born	29 January 1961 Karl-Marx-Stadt, Sachsen, East Germany now Germany
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	SC Karl-Marx-Stadt
Medal record Women's swimming Representing  East Germany Olympic Games 1976 Montreal 400 m freestyle 1976 Montreal 800 m freestyle European Championships 1977 Jönköping 200 m freestyle 1977 Jönköping 400 m freestyle 1977 Jönköping 800 m freestyle

Petra Thümer (born 29 January 1961) is a former swimmer from East Germany. She won gold medals in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics^[1] and the 1977 European Aquatics Championships. During her career she set five world records in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle. In 1987 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.^[2]

Later she admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs as part of the East German training system.^[3][4] For this reason she missed the 1978 World Championships – coaches feared she would not pass the doping test and excluded her from the East German team, officially explaining her absence by injuries.^[5]

In 1979 she retired from swimming and worked as a photographer.^[3]

She was married to the German Olympic athletes Klaus Katzur (swimmer) and Alf-Gerd Deckert (cross-country skier).^[1]

References

1. Petra Thümer. sports-reference.com
2. PETRA THUMER (GDR). ishof.org
3. Thümer, Petra. bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de
4. Von Männern geschlagen. Der Spiegel (14 September 1998)
5. Matthias Krause (21 April 1998). Die Spritzen waren immer fertig aufgezogen. berliner-zeitung.de