Birgit Radochla

Birgit Radochla ( born January 31, 1945 in Döbern, after marriage Birgit Michailoff ) is a former German gymnast devices, which was the first gymnast in the GDR won an Olympic medal in 1964.

Career

Birgit Radochla was the daughter of a sports teacher and a gymnast, her father Helmut Radochla 1949 was the first East German champion on pommel horse. In 1956 she came to the Children and Youth Sports School in Forest, 1961 has been delegated to the SC Dynamo Berlin. In the same year she won at the East German championship in the all around and on the balance beam; in the horse and jump on the uneven bars she reached each second behind Ute Strong. Radochla benefited from the injury-related absence the actually strongest DDR gymnast Ingrid Föst. 1962 occupied Radochla on the ground in second place behind Föst. At the World Championship 1962 in Prague Radochla occupied with the ranks of GDR fifth place. In multiplayer battle only Eighteenth, she reached the fourth place in the horse jump.

1963 won Radochla in the GDR championship in the all around, horse and jump on the ground. In 1964 she won the horse and jump on the uneven bars and finished second in the other three disciplines to second place behind Erika Barth. In qualifying for the all-German team in Wolfsburg and Schwerin occupied gymnasts from the GDR, the first eight places, with Barth won before Radochla and Föst. Erika Barth, however, was injured before the Olympics and failed. Birgit Radochla, Ingrid Föst, Ute Strong and Karin Mannewitz, Christel Felgner and Barbara missed pride as Olympic Fourth just under the bronze medal of the Japanese women. Birgit Radochla took fourth place in the individual all-around. During their distance in the all around for third-placed Polina Astachowa clearly failed, she missed the bronze floor to one thousandth of a point opposite the Hungarian Anikó Jánosi. In the horse jump Věra Čáslavská won gold, behind Larissa Latynina and Birgit Radochla jointly received the same score silver. A year later the European Championship in 1965 in Sofia last Radochlas start in a major championship. Věra Čáslavská won all five competitions, Latynina won four silver and one bronze. Birgit Radochla won bronze in the all around and on the balance beam and finished at the bottom together with Latynina second place. Rank 4 on the uneven bars and sixth place in the horse jump rounded off Radochlas result. Then Radochla joined because of various injuries to no longer at international championships.

The Salto first shown by the Czech Hana Růžičková between the spars on the uneven bars was perfected by Birgit Radochla so that the Radochla role was seen as a separate technical element and is.

In private life Birgit Radochla joined her training as a kindergarten teacher at a training as a beautician and sports studies at the DHfK.

Awards