Silke Knoll

Sprinter Silke Knoll competed in three Olympics from 1988-96. Her best result was a fifth place with the sprint relay at Barcelona in 1992. At Seoul in 1988 she was eliminated in the second round of the 200 m, after going out in the semifinals at Barcelona. Competing in four World Championships (1987, 1991, 1993, 1995) Knoll won a bronze medal with the sprint relay in 1995. She also participated in the 1994 World Cup, at the 1990 and 1994 European Championships (silver medal with the sprint relay in 1990, gold medal in 1994), and the European Cup in 1987 and 1993-96. Domestically she won 22 West German and Unified German titles. She also claimed a world record with the 4x200 indoor relay in 1988.

In 1990 an article in Der Spiegel revealed that there was a systematic doping scheme involving her home club Eintracht Hamm in the 1980s, under the guidance of then coach Jochen Spilker. Knoll and all the other female sprinters in the club had been involved – Gisela Kinzel, Helga Arendt and non-Olympians Mechthild Kluth and Andrea Hannemann – which ended their active careers shortly after the publication of the article.

Personal Bests: 100 – 11.17 (1992); 200 – 22.29 (1992).