Jana Kandarr

German tennis player Jana Kandarr participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics where she lost her third-round match to upcoming Olympic champion and clear favourite Venus Williams from the USA. Although she was born as a left-hander, Kandarr played right-handed. She reached her highest position in the world rankings with #43 in 2001.

Jana Kandarr later studied geoscience and biology in Berlin and worked with the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences at Postdam. Her mother, Petra Kandarr, was GDR Sportswoman of the Year after winning the 1969 European Championships in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and with the 4x100 relay as a track & field athletics sprinter. She and Jana moved from East Germany to Karlsruhe in West Germany after re-unification.