Karin Büttner-Janz
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.
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