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Karin Janz
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Janz at the 1972 Olympic Games

Full name

Karin Büttner-Janz

Country represented

800px-Flag of East Germany East Germany

Born

February 17 1952 (1952-02-17) (age 73)
Lübben (Spreewald), East Germany

Current status

Retired

Karin Büttner-Janz (born 17 February 1952 in Hartmannsdorf a district of Lübben (Spreewald), German Democratic Republic (GDR, commonly: East Germany) is a medical doctor, Olympic medal winner in artistic gymnastics and, since March 1990, chief physician of the orthopedic Vivantes hospital in Friedrichshain.

Her first coach was her father Guido Janz, who taught her excellent basics. Karin moved to a sports school in Forst, where she trained under Klaus Helbeck. Her final coach was Jürgen Heritz.

In 1967, at the age of fifteen, Karin Janz was nominated as East German Athlete of the Year despite not yet having had any international success. She went on to win the silver medal on the uneven bars and a bronze medal as part of the country's gymnastics team at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

At the 1970 world championships she overcame Ludmilla Tourischeva on the uneven bars to win the gold medal. In a controversial finish, she delivered another gold medal winning performance on the uneven bars at the 1972 Munich Olympics, defeating Olga Korbut on her favourite apparatus. She also won the gold medal on the vault, a silver medal as part of the East German women's gymnastic team, and bronze on the balance beam. She was the most successful sports woman of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) at the 1972 Summer Olympics and was recognized there as Sportswoman of the Year in 1972. After these successes she announced her intention of ending her competitive career to turn to the study of medicine to become a physician.

Karin has an uneven bars element named after her, the Janz Salto, which she first performed in competition at the SV Dynamo Spartakiade in East Berlin, 1971.

Medal Count[]

Year Event TF AA VT UB BB FX
1967 East German Championships 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd
Amsterdam European Championships 3rd 2nd
1968 East German Championships 2nd 1st 1st 6 2nd
Mexico City Olympic Games 3rd 2nd
1969 East German Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st
Landskrona European Championships 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd
1970 Ljubljana World Championships 2nd 2nd 1st
1972 Munich Olympic Games 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 3rd
Chunichi Cup 1st
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