Karin Krebs

Karin Krebs

Krebs at the 1972 Olympics
Personal information
Born	18 August 1943 (1943-08-18) (age 81) Gumbinnen, Germany
Height	167 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	51 kg (112 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	1500 m
Club	SC Dynamo Berlin
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	800 m – 2:00.1 (1971) 1500 m – 4:04.11 (1972)
Medal record Representing East Germany European Athletics Championships 1971 Helsinki 1500 m European Athletics Indoor Championships 1968 Madrid 800 m 1974 Gothenburg 1500 m

Karin Krebs (née Burneleit, born 18 August 1943) is a retired East German middle-distance runner. She won the 800 metres race at the 1968 European Indoor Games, but failed to reach the 800 m Olympic final the same year. She then focused on the 1500 m event and won it at the 1971 European Championships, setting a new world record at 4:09.6 minutes. She placed fourth at the 1972 Olympics, and her world record was broken earlier in July 1972 by the future Olympic gold medalist Lyudmila Bragina. Krebs had her last intentional success in 1974 when she won the silver medal over 1500 m at the European Indoor Championships.

Domestically Krebs won the East German 800 m title in 1968 outdoors and in 1966 and 1968 indoors. She also held the national 1500 m indoor title in 1971 and 1974.

While passing the gender test at the 1968 Olympics Krebs learned that she was three-month pregnant. After the 1972 Olympics she married her teammate, long-distance runner Joachim Krebs. Their daughter Nadja (born 1976) also became a runner. Krebs was a horticulturist by profession, but worked for the East German Track and Field Association. After the Unification of Germany in 1990 she became a self-employed sports and event manager.