German field hockey player Simone Thomaschinski-Gräßer competed in three consecutive Olympic Games, winning the silver medal in 1992, losing the final against Spain 2-1 after extra time. Therefore, the team and all players were awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. Four years later at Atlanta, the team placed a disappointing sixth, and another four years later were only seventh at the Sydney Games.
Internationally, Thomaschinski-Gräßer won two more silver medals at the 1991 and the 1999 European Championships, and also a bronze medal at the 1995 Europeans. In total, she played 184 international matches from 1990-2000. Domestically, she played with Eintracht Frankfurt and later RHTC Bayer Leverkusen. She helped Frankfurt win the national title in 1991.
Germany