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Katrin Krabbe had not even reached her twenty-first birthday when she
won the 100m/200m double at the 1990 European Championships. Having
established herself as the best sprinter in Europe, Katrin had the
opportunity the following year to prove that she was the best in the
world, at the World Championships in Tokyo. She would not find this an
easy task in the 100m, as the favourite, Merlene Ottey (Jamaica), had
been undefeated at that distance since 1987.
However, in the final at
Tokyo, on 27 August, Ottey had a poor start, while Krabbe, in
comparison, got an excellent start, and led all the way to win the gold
medal (see photo above, No. 343) from Gwen Torrence (USA) and
Ottey. This scenario was repeated three days later in the 200m final,
with Krabbe again establishing an early lead, and holding on to win her
second gold medal ahead of Torrence and Ottey. Following an easy
victory in their semi-final, the German team were the favourites for the
gold in the 4 x 100m relay final, and although they were leading after
Krabbe completed the second leg, they faded to finish third after a
botched changed between the last two runners.
Krabbe added to her medal
tally when she won another bronze medal in the 4 x 400m relay final,
equalling the record of Marita Koch (East Germany) of winning 4 medals
at one World Championships. No sooner had Krabbe established this
supremacy amongst the world's sprinters, and seemingly with a bright
future in front of her, than everything fell apart.
In early 1992 she
was suspended for tampering with a drug test, when she and two teammates
all submitted an identical urine sample. This suspension was later
revoked, but then she was subsequently suspended in July following a
positive drug test, which effectively ended her career. (Ron Casey)
100 m - 10.89 +1.8 (Berlin 20 July 1988)
200 m - 21.95 +0.3 (Split 30 August 1990)
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