Jutta Lau was a member of the East German gold medal winning coxed quadruple sculls at both the 1976 Montréal Summer Olympics, when women’s rowing was on the agenda for the first time, and at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games. In 1980, she replaced Gisela Medefindt due to an injury after the heats. In 1974-75 and 1979 she won the World Championships. Domestically, she won national titles in 1975 and 1979.
Lau retired after the Moskva Olympics, and studied sports at the DHfK Leipzig. She graduated and became a rowing coach at her home club SG Dynamo Potsdam. In 2011 she was named Coach of the Year by FISA (International Rowing Federation). From 2000-08 she was chief coach of the German national women’s team, before moving to China and taking up a similar position with their national squad.
East Germany