Birgit Meineke
{{Short description|East German swimmer (born 1964)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox swimmer
| name=Birgit Meineke
| image= Bundesarchiv Bild 183-Z0701-033, Birgit Meineke (cropped).jpg
| imagesize=
| caption = Birgit Meineke in 1981
| fullname = Birgit Meineke
| nicknames =
| nationality = {{GDR}}
| strokes = Freestyle
| club = SC Dynamo Berlin
| collegeteam =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1964|7|4}}
| birth_place = East Berlin, East Germany
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height = {{convert|1.82|m|ftin|abbr=on}}[https://www.munzinger.de/search/portrait/Birgit+Meineke/1/178.html Birgit Meineke]. munzinger.de
| weight = {{convert|68|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| medaltemplates=
{{MedalCountry | {{GDR}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}
{{MedalGold|1982 Guayaquil|100 m freestyle}}
{{MedalGold|1982 Guayaquil|4×100 m medley}}
{{MedalGold|1982 Guayaquil|4×100 m freestyle}}
{{MedalSilver|1982 Guayaquil|200 m freestyle}}
{{MedalCompetition|European Championships}}
{{MedalGold| 1981 Split | 4×100 m freestyle}}
{{MedalGold| 1983 Rome | 100 m freestyle}}
{{MedalGold| 1983 Rome | 200 m freestyle}}
{{MedalGold| 1983 Rome | 4×100 m medley}}
{{MedalGold| 1983 Rome | 4×100 m freestyle}}
{{MedalGold| 1983 Rome | 4×200 m freestyle}}
{{MedalSilver| 1981 Split | 200 m freestyle}}
{{MedalSilver| 1981 Split | 100 m freestyle}}
}}
Birgit Meineke (later Heukrodt, born 4 July 1964) is a retired East German swimmer. She was the fastest female swimmer in the 100 m freestyle between 1980 and 1984.{{cite news |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/sport/article50739.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514152618/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/sport/article50739.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 May 2014 |title=Coaching row such a bitter pill to swallow |first=Richard|last=Lewis |newspaper=Sunday Times |date=6 July 2003 |page=9 |access-date=14 May 2014}} {{subscription}}
Career
Meineke was strongest in the early 1980s, winning a gold medal as part of the East German team for the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay in the 1981 European Aquatics Championships, as well as two silver medals in the same year for the 200 meter and 100 meter freestyle. In the same year, she also established a world record in the short course 100 m freestyle, with a time of 54.04 seconds.{{cite news|title=ROUNDUP Swimming|date=21 December 1981|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|page=S.8}} While her performance at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships was similarly strong, the pinnacle of her career was a sweep of five golds at the 1983 European Aquatics Championships in Rome.
Meineke was unable to compete in the Olympics due to the boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by 14 Eastern Bloc countries, including East Germany. However, she won several medals at the Friendship Games, including two gold medals as part of the teams for the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay and the 4 × 100 m medley relay, the latter of which broke a world record.{{cite news|title=Pool records set at Friendship '84|date=25 August 1984|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|page=S.7}} She ended her swimming career in that year, later becoming a general surgeon.
Meineke was married to canoer Olaf Heukrodt.
=East German doping=
{{main|Doping in East Germany}}
Like many other East German female athletes, Meineke was subject to systematic administration of performance-enhancing drugs. These caused health problems for her in later life, including a liver tumor she attributed to the use of anabolic steroids and birth control pills.{{cite web |author-link=Karin Helmstaedt |url=http://www.alexandriamasters.com/articles/drugs.htm |title=Fear of the Future |first=Karin |last=Helmstaedt |work=Alexandria Masters Swimming |year=2009 |access-date=3 July 2011 |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330170235/https://alexandriamasters.com/articles/drugs.htm |url-status=dead }}
In 1998, former coach Rolf Gläser admitted to administering steroids to Meineke and her teammates and was fined $4000 for causing bodily harm.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Footer World LC Champions 100m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer World LC Champions 4x100m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer World LC Champions 4x100m Medley Women}}
{{Footer European Champions 100m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer European Champions 200m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer European Champions 4x100m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer European Champions 4x200m Freestyle Women|1983}}
{{Footer European Champions 4x100m Medley Women}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meineke, Birgit}}
Category:Swimmers from East Berlin
Category:East German female freestyle swimmers
Category:East German physicians
Category:SC Dynamo Berlin sportspeople
Category:20th-century German physicians
Category:20th-century German women physicians
Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Category:European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Category:German sportspeople in doping cases
Category:Doping cases in swimming