Otto, Kristin (1966—)

East German swimmer. Born in 1966 in East Germany.

Won Olympic gold medals at Seoul in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke, 100-meter butterfly, 4x100-meter freestyle relay and 4x100-meter medley relay (1988); set the world record in the 100-meter with a time of 54.73 (1986), which stood for years.

Kristin Otto won six gold medals from one venue: Seoul, Korea. Women swimmers tend to peak between 15 and 17. When Kristin Otto arrived at the 1988 Summer Olympics at Seoul, she was 22, dubbed by Time magazine the "Golden Oldie." But Otto disagreed. "I know I haven't reached my limits," she said. The 6'1" Otto won gold medals in the 50-meter freestyle (25.49), the first time the event was in Olympic contention. She followed that with a gold in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 54.93, outdistancing Yong Zhuang of China. She then won the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:00.89, besting Krisztina Egerszegi of Hungary (who would take the gold in the 200-meter backstroke). Otto also won the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 59.00 for an Olympic record, beating teammate Birte Weigang . Otto, Katrin Meissner, Daniela Hunger , and Manuela Stellmach then took the 4x100-meter freestyle relay with a time of 3:40.63, an Olympic record. (America was awarded the bronze.) In the 4x100-meter medley relay, Otto, Silke Hörner , Weigang, and Meissner won gold with a time of 4:03.74, another Olympic record.