Fischer, Birgit (1962–)

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Fischer, Birgit (1962–)

East German kayaker. Name variations: Birgit Schmidt or Schmidt-Fischer. Born Birgit Fischer, Feb 25, 1962, in Brandenburg, Germany; m. Jörg Schmidt (canoeist, div.).

At Moscow, won a gold medal in K1 500 meters (1980), the youngest ever Olympic canoe winner; at World championships, won all 3 events (1981–83, 1985, 1987) as well as K4 500 (1993–95, 1997–98), K1 500 (1993–94) and K2 200, 500 and 1,000 (1997); at Seoul Olympics, won a silver medal in K1 500 and gold medals in K4 500 and K2 500 (1988); at Barcelona Olympics, won a gold medal in K1 500 and a silver medal in K4 500 (1992); at Atlanta Olympics, won a silver medal for K2 500 and a gold medal for K4 500 (1996); at Sydney Olympics, won gold medals for K2 500 and K4 500 meters (2000), only the 5th athlete in history to win gold at 5 Olympic games and the only woman to win a gold medal 20 years apart; won a gold medal for K4 500 and a silver medal for K2 500 at Athens Olympics (2004).

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