{{short description|East German sprinter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{expand German|topic=bio|date=February 2022|Renate Stecher}} {{Infobox sportsperson |name= |nickname= |image=Renate Stecher c1974.jpg | image_size = |caption= |birth_date= {{birth-date and age|12 May 1950}} |birth_place=Süptitz, Saxony-Anhalt, East Germany | death_date = | death_place = | height = {{convert|1.70|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | weight = {{convert|71|kg|lb|abbr=on}} |sport=Athletics |event=100 m, 200 m |club= SC Motor Jena |pb=100 m – 10.8 (1973)<br> 200 m – 22.38 (1973)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=1785&Gender=W |title=Renate Stecher |website=trackfield.brinkster.net}}</ref> |alma_mater= | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Women's athletics}} {{MedalCountry | {{GDR}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}} {{MedalGold|1972 Munich|100 m}} {{MedalGold|1972 Munich|200 m}} {{MedalGold|1976 Montreal|4 × 100 m relay}} {{MedalSilver|1972 Munich|4 × 100 m relay}} {{MedalSilver|1976 Montreal|100 m}} {{MedalBronze|1976 Montreal|200 m}} {{MedalCompetition|European Championships}} {{MedalGold|1969 Athens|4 × 100 m relay}} {{MedalGold|1971 Helsinki|100 m}} {{MedalGold|1971 Helsinki|200 m}} {{MedalGold|1974 Rome|4 × 100 m relay}} {{MedalSilver|1969 Athens|200 m}} {{MedalSilver|1971 Helsinki|4 × 100 m relay}} {{MedalSilver|1974 Rome|100 m}} {{MedalSilver|1974 Rome|200 m}} {{MedalCompetition|European Indoor Championships}} {{MedalGold|1970 Vienna|60 m}} {{MedalGold|1971 Sofia|60 m}} {{MedalGold|1972 Grenoble|50 m}} {{MedalGold|1974 Gothenburg|60 m}} {{MedalCompetition|Summer Universiade}} {{MedalGold|1970 Turin|100 m}} {{MedalGold|1970 Turin|200 m}} }}
'''Renate Stecher''' ({{IPA|de|ʁənaːtə ˈʃtɛçɐ}}, {{Audio|De-Renate Stecher.ogg|audio}}; née '''Renate Meißner'''; born 12 May 1950) is a German (former East German) sprint runner and a triple Olympic champion. She held 34 world records and was the first woman to run 100 metres within 11 seconds.<ref name=sr>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/st/renate-stecher-1.html |title=Renate Stecher |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417052637/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/st/renate-stecher-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>
==Biography== Born as Renate Meißner, she was a very talented athlete, also competing in the high jump and pentathlon. She debuted internationally at the 1969 European Championships, where she – as a last minute substitute – won a silver medal in the 200 m and a gold in the 4 × 100 m relay.<ref name=sr/>
In 1970 she was the World Student Games Champion in both the 100 and 200 metres.
Renate won five national 100m titles 1970-75. She also won the 200 on 4 occasions.
At the next European Championships, in 1971, she won both the 100 and 200 m and the silver in the relay. At that time, she was already competing as Renate Stecher, having married hurdler Gerd Stecher the previous year.<ref name=sr/>
At the 1972 Summer Olympics, Stecher repeated that performance. She won the 100 m in time of 11.07, which was only in 1976 recognised as world record, which had been measured in tenths of seconds before (the times in tenths were later corrected). She also equalled the world record in the 200 meters with a time of 22.40. The following year, Stecher set (hand timed) world records in both sprint events, also becoming the first woman to beat 11 seconds. She clocked 10.9 and 10.8 for the 100 metres and 22.1 for the 200 metres.<ref name=sr/>
Stecher also won the 200 m. Wilma van den Berg of the Netherlands had qualified for the semifinals, and the 23.22 that she ran in the quarterfinals was faster than the time in the quarterfinals of Stecher.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/61413|title=Olympedia – 200 metres, Women|website=www.olympedia.org}}</ref> However, after the killing of 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Massacre, and the Olympics not being cancelled, van den Berg withdrew from the competition in sympathy with the Israeli victims.<ref name="auto451">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/07/08/archives/maccabia-games-a-somber-occasion.html|title=Maccabiah Games: A Somber Occasion|date=July 8, 1973|work=The New York Times}}</ref> She said that she was leaving in protest of the "obscene" decision to continue with the Olympic Games.<ref>John Bale (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=bkeRAgAAQBAJ&dq=Wilma++van+Gool+sprinter&pg=PA157 ''Running Cultures; Racing in Time and Space'']</ref>
In Rome at the 1974 European Championships she was defeated in both the 100 m and 200 m, by Irena Szewińska of Poland and had to settle for silver in both distances. However the GDR 4 × 100 m relay team, in which Stecher ran the second leg, won the gold medal in a world record time.<ref name=sr/>
At the 1976 Summer Olympics, Stecher again competed in the three sprint events, winning medals in all three once again. She was beaten for the 100 m title by Annegret Richter, and came third in a 200 m race with five German women in the first five positions. With the 4 × 100 m relay team they beat West Germany, taking revenge for the race four years earlier.<ref name=sr/>
==Retirement== Following the release of East German secret service files, it was revealed that many of the country's athletes were involved with a state-sponsored drug program. The files document that Stecher had wanted to step down her drug use after the 1972 Olympics, so that she could safely have children.<ref>McDonald, Margie (15 April 2009). [https://archive.today/20120911180302/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25335608-5015718,00.html Too little too late, as Raelene Boyle slams East German drug coaches]. ''The Australian''. Retrieved on 22 May 2009.</ref> Raelene Boyle, who had finished second to Stecher in both the 100 and 200 metres at the Olympics, stated that she felt cheated, as she believed it unlikely that Stecher would have beaten her without the use of performance-enhancing drugs.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/profiles/Transcripts/s1054633.htm Raelene Boyle]. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (26 February 2004). Retrieved on 22 May 2009.</ref>
In 2011 Stecher was inducted into the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=sr/>
==References== {{Commons category|Renate Stecher}} {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ach|rec}} {{s-bef|before={{flagicon|TCH}} Eva Glesková}} {{s-ttl|title=Women's 100 m World Record Holder|years=30 June 1973 – 13 June 1976}} {{s-aft|after={{flagicon|FRG}} Inge Helten}} {{s-sports}} {{s-break}} {{s-vac|unknown}} {{s-ttl|title=Women's 200 m Best Year Performance|years=1972–1973}} {{s-aft|after={{flagicon|POL}} Irena Szewińska}} {{s-bef|before={{flagicon|POL}} Irena Szewińska}} {{s-ttl|title=Women's 200 m Best Year Performance|years=1975}} {{s-aft|after={{flagicon|GDR}} Bärbel Wöckel}} {{s-end}} {{Footer Olympic Champions 100 m Women}} {{Footer Olympic Champions 200 m Women}} {{Olympic champions 4 × 100 metres women}} {{European champions 100 metres women}} {{European champions 200 metres women}} {{European champions 4 × 100 metres women}} {{Footer European Indoor Champions 60m Women}} {{Footer Universiade Champions 100m Women}} {{Footer Universiade Champions 200m Women}} {{Footer WBYP 100m Women}} {{Footer WBYP 200m Women}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stecher, Renate}} Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:People from Torgau Category:Athletes from Bezirk Leipzig Category:East German women sprinters Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic athletes for East Germany Category:Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Category:Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Category:Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics Category:Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Category:European Athletics Championships medalists Category:Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics Category:Olympic silver medalists in athletics Category:Olympic bronze medalists in athletics Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for East Germany Category:Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade Category:Olympic women sprinters Category:East German Athletics Championships winners