Kornelia Ender
Ender during the European Cup in August 1973
Personal information
NationalityGerman
Born (1958-10-25) 25 October 1958
Plauen, East Germany (now Saxony, Germany)
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight59 kg (130 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, butterfly, medley
ClubSV Halle
Medal record
Women’s swimming
Representing  East Germany
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 4 4 0
World Championships (LC) 8 2 0
European Championships (LC) 4 0 0
Total 16 6 0
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1976 Montreal100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place1976 Montreal200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place1976 Montreal100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place1976 Montreal4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place1972 Munich200 m individual medley
Silver medal – second place1972 Munich4×100 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place1972 Munich4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place1976 Montreal4×100 m freestyle
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place1973 Belgrade100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place1973 Belgrade100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place1973 Belgrade4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place1973 Belgrade4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place1975 Cali100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place1975 Cali100 m butterfly
Gold medal – first place1975 Cali4x100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place1975 Cali4x100 m medley
Silver medal – second place1973 Belgrade200 m medley
Silver medal – second place1975 Cali200 m freestyle
European Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 1974 Vienna 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1974 Vienna 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1974 Vienna 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 1974 Vienna 4×100 m medley

Kornelia Ender (later Matthes now Grummt, born 25 October 1958) is a former East German swimmer who at the 1976 Summer Olympics became the first woman swimmer to win four gold medals at a single Olympic Games, all in world record times. It was later proven that the East German team doctors had systematically administered steroids to their athletes[1] (albeit without the athletes' knowledge). As she had exhibited symptoms of steroid use in 1976 (deep voice, overdeveloped body), strong suspicion was cast on the validity of Ender's accomplishments.

Ender trained from a young age and won her first Olympic medals as a 13-year-old at the 1972 Olympics in Munich: three silver medals, including one in the 200 m individual medley, finishing behind Australia's Shane Gould. Over the following years she broke 32 world records in individual events, including the four at the Montreal Games. In 1991, she addressed the long-held suspicions about her physical condition at the 1976 Games, acknowledging that team doctors and coaches had given her numerous injections of drugs over the preceding months (cf. doping in East Germany). Ender said that she did not know at the time, nor had she ever subsequently found out, exactly what the drugs were. She said she was told only that the drugs would help her "regenerate and recuperate" and therefore, although she was surprised by the muscle mass she added, she nonetheless attributed it simply to her rigorous training.

When she became suspicious and refused to take chlorodehydromethyltestosterone in 1977 she was banned from the team by Manfred Ewald.[2]

Ender was married for four years to East German backstroke swimmer and multiple Olympic champion Roland Matthes. She is now married to former East German track and field athlete and bobsledder Steffen Grummt.

See also

References

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