Koch, Marita (1957–)

views updated

Koch, Marita (1957–)

East German runner. Born Feb 18, 1957, in Wismar, East Germany.

Won a gold medal for the 400 meters and a silver for the 4 × 400 meters at Moscow Olympics (1980); at World championships, won gold medals for 200 meters, 4 × 100 meters and 4 × 400 meters and a silver medal for 100 meters (1983); placed 1st for 400 meters at European games in Athens, Greece, with a time of 48.16 (1982); once held world records in both the 200 meters and 400 meters and was the 1st woman to better 49 seconds in the 400.