Mauermayer, Gisela (b. 1913)
Mauermayer, Gisela (b. 1913)
German discus thrower who won a gold medal in the 1936 Olympics . Born on November 24, 1913.
Gisela Mauermayer, a six-foot tall discus thrower, captured a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin. Three weeks before the games, Mauermayer heaved the discus 158'6" to set a world record that remained unbroken for 12 years. Even her winning Olympic distance was slightly under her record, at 156'3". The Berlin games also netted a silver medal for Jadwiga Wajs of Poland, who threw a distance of 151'8", while Mauermayer's teammate Paula Mollenhauer took the bronze medal with a much less impressive distance of 130'7". Mauermayer went on to became a schoolteacher and a high-ranking member of the Nazi women's organization. Following the war, she lost her job because of her Nazi affiliation. She returned to school, receiving a doctoral degree in the Zoological Institute of Munich University, where she specialized in the study of ants. Later, she became a librarian.