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| Event type

100 metres Breaststroke, Women

Date22 – 24 July 1976
StatusOlympic
LocationPiscine olympique, Montréal, Québec
Participants38 from 22 countries

At the GDR Olympic Trials in June at Berlin, Carola Nitschke recorded 1:11.93 to break the world record and make herself the favorite in Montréal. But Hannelore Anke was the 100 and 200 breaststroke titlist from the 1975 World Championships, and she was expected to challenge Nitschke. In the heats Anke bettered Nitschke’s world record with 1:11.11, and in the semi-finals, she improved that to 1:10.86. The final would be her slowest swim of the Olympic event, finishing in 1:11.16, although that bettered the pre-Games world record and was almost two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, as she won gold easily. The other medals went to Soviets Lyubov Rusanova and Marina Koshevaya, as Nitschke faded near the end to drop off the podium and place fourth.

In The Complete Book of the Olympics, David Wallechinsky tells Nitschke’s story, “At the 1977 European Championships, Carola Nitschke was awarded a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metre [medley relay]. Since the age of 13, she had been taking the anabolic steroid Oral-Turinabol. She also received injections of the male hormone testosterone. Two years later she tried to train without drugs, but was unable to match her elite-level times. In 1998 Nitschke became the first doped athlete to return her medals and ask that her name be removed from the record books.”

One other woman not in Montréal was East German Renate Vogel, who had set two world records in the 100 breaststroke in 1974 and that year also won the European Championship in both the 100 and 200 breast. But by the end of that year she was continually injured and tired of the training, and the various drugs she was required to take, so she quit swimming at the end of 1974, defected to West Germany in 1979, and later told the whole story of the East German swimming program and how they manipulated athletes and surreptitiously gave them performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

PosSwimmerNOCR1SFFinal
1Hannelore AnkeGDR1:11.11 (1 h5)1:10.86 (1 h2)1:11.16 (1)Gold
2Lyubov RusanovaURS1:14.14 (1 h3)1:13.53 (1 h1)1:13.04 (2)Silver
3Marina KoshevayaURS1:14.64 (1 h1)1:13.20 (2 h2)1:13.30 (3)Bronze
4Carola NitschkeGDR1:13.36 (1 h6)1:13.73 (2 h1)1:13.33 (4)
5Gaby AskampFRG1:14.31 (2 h2)1:14.50 (5 h1)1:14.15 (5)
6Marina YurchenyaURS1:14.81 (1 h4)1:13.96 (3 h1)1:14.17 (6)
7Maggie KellyGBR1:14.23 (2 h5)1:13.57 (3 h2)1:14.20 (7)
8Karla LinkeGDR1:15.36 (3 h3)1:14.49 (4 h1)1:14.21 (8)
9Robin CorsigliaCAN1:14.14 (1 h2)1:14.56 (4 h2)
10Christine JarvisGBR1:14.94 (3 h6)1:14.59 (6 h1)
11Lauri SieringUSA1:15.41 (2 h4)1:14.84 (5 h2)
12Wijda MazereeuwNED1:14.81 (2 h6)1:14.86 (6 h2)
13Joann BakerCAN1:15.55 (3 h5)1:15.20 (7 h2)
14Susanne NielssonDEN1:15.43 (4 h6)1:15.38 (7 h1)
15Lisa BorsholtCAN1:15.05 (2 h3)1:15.41 (8 h2)
16Annick de SusiniFRA1:15.79 (2 h1)1:16.30 (8 h1)
17Dagmar RehakFRG1:15.95 (3 h1)
18Toshiko HaruokaJPN1:16.31 (4 h5)
=19Maritzka van der LindenNED1:16.76 (5 h6)
=19Renee LaravieUSA1:16.76 (5 h5)
=21Anna SkolarczykPOL1:17.16 (=3 h2)
=21Anette FredrikssonSWE1:17.16 (=3 h2)
23Kazuyo InabaJPN1:17.20 (5 h2)
24Iris CornianiITA1:17.21 (3 h4)
25Marcia MoreyUSA1:17.30 (4 h4)
26Helen BurnhamGBR1:17.31 (5 h4)
27Cristina TeixeiraBRA1:17.94 (6 h4)
28Ann-Sofi RoosSWE1:18.61 (4 h1)
29Ilse SchoorsBEL1:18.63 (6 h5)
30Karin DeleurandDEN1:19.06 (4 h3)
31Véronique BrisyBEL1:19.56 (5 h3)
32Beatriz CamuñasMEX1:20.46 (5 h1)
33Nancy DeañoPHI1:20.93 (6 h2)
34Dacyl PérezVEN1:21.39 (7 h4)
35Elena OspitaletcheURU1:21.44 (6 h3)
36Rossana JuncosARG1:21.53 (6 h6)
37Allison SmithAUS1:21.62 (7 h6)
38Ángela LópezPUR1:22.95 (7 h5)
DNSChiharu MoriJPN– (DNS h1)
DNSElvira SagiHUN– (DNS h2)

Round One (22 July 1976 — 9:30)

Fastest 16 advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Marina KoshevayaURS1:14.64Q
23Annick de SusiniFRA1:15.79Q
35Dagmar RehakFRG1:15.95
46Ann-Sofi RoosSWE1:18.61
57Beatriz CamuñasMEX1:20.46
DNS2Chiharu MoriJPN

Heat Two

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Robin CorsigliaCAN1:14.14Q
25Gaby AskampFRG1:14.31Q
=33Anna SkolarczykPOL1:17.16
=36Anette FredrikssonSWE1:17.16
52Kazuyo InabaJPN1:17.20
67Nancy DeañoPHI1:20.93
DNS1Elvira SagiHUN

Heat Three

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Lyubov RusanovaURS1:14.14Q
25Lisa BorsholtCAN1:15.05Q
33Karla LinkeGDR1:15.36Q
42Karin DeleurandDEN1:19.06
57Véronique BrisyBEL1:19.56
61Elena OspitaletcheURU1:21.44

Heat Four

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Marina YurchenyaURS1:14.81Q
25Lauri SieringUSA1:15.41Q
37Iris CornianiITA1:17.21
43Marcia MoreyUSA1:17.30
56Helen BurnhamGBR1:17.31
62Cristina TeixeiraBRA1:17.94
71Dacyl PérezVEN1:21.39

Heat Five

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Hannelore AnkeGDR1:11.11QWR
25Maggie KellyGBR1:14.23Q
33Joann BakerCAN1:15.55Q
42Toshiko HaruokaJPN1:16.31
56Renee LaravieUSA1:16.76
67Ilse SchoorsBEL1:18.63
71Ángela LópezPUR1:22.95

Heat Six

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Carola NitschkeGDR1:13.36Q
26Wijda MazereeuwNED1:14.81Q
33Christine JarvisGBR1:14.94Q
45Susanne NielssonDEN1:15.43Q
52Maritzka van der LindenNED1:16.76
61Rossana JuncosARG1:21.53
77Allison SmithAUS1:21.62

Semi-Finals (22 July 1976 — 19:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
15Lyubov RusanovaURS1:13.53Q
24Carola NitschkeGDR1:13.73Q
36Marina YurchenyaURS1:13.96Q
47Karla LinkeGDR1:14.49Q
53Gaby AskampFRG1:14.50Q
62Christine JarvisGBR1:14.59
71Susanne NielssonDEN1:15.38
88Annick de SusiniFRA1:16.30

Heat Two

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Hannelore AnkeGDR1:10.86QWR
26Marina KoshevayaURS1:13.20Q
33Maggie KellyGBR1:13.57Q
45Robin CorsigliaCAN1:14.56
51Lauri SieringUSA1:14.84
62Wijda MazereeuwNED1:14.86
78Joann BakerCAN1:15.20
87Lisa BorsholtCAN1:15.41

Final (24 July 1976 — 19:15)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
14Hannelore AnkeGDR1:11.16
23Lyubov RusanovaURS1:13.04
35Marina KoshevayaURS1:13.30
42Carola NitschkeGDR1:13.33
58Gaby AskampFRG1:14.15
67Marina YurchenyaURS1:14.17
76Maggie KellyGBR1:14.20
81Karla LinkeGDR1:14.21