Kristin Otto

Nationality: East German DOB: 7/2/1966 Height: 6ft 1in Medals: 6 gold Flag: GER

Kristin Otto dominated in the pool at the Seoul Olympics, the last product of the East German sports machine. East German was first woman to win six golds at a single Olympics Otto has the dubious honour of being the last great product of the East German sports machine. As a 22-year-old at the Seoul Olympics of 1988, she became the first woman to win six golds at a single Games. Her victories came in the 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay. At the time, there was no 4x200m freestyle relay for women - unlike for men - and, therefore, Otto was denied the chance to equal Mark Spitz's seven golds in 1972 - a record later improved on by Michael Phelps, who won eight in 2008. Otto was born in Leipzig in 1966 and took up swimming at the age of 10 at the local sports academy. Her major breakthrough came six years later with victory in the 100m backstroke at the 1982 world championships. She was denied the chance to compete at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles due to the Eastern Bloc boycott and missed the following year after suffering a fractured vertebrae. Otto recovered to become the a dominant force at the 1986 world championships and 1987 European championships, a taste of what was to come in Seoul. She retired after winning the 100m backstroke and coming third in 200m backstroke at the 1989 European championships and, following the fall of communism, went on to enjoy a successful career as a journalist and television presenter in the newly unified Germany. Although no East German ever tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at an international competition, the fall of the Berlin Wall led to revelations about the extent of the state-sponsored doping programme - which was often done without the knowledge of the athlete. Otto has always denied knowing use performance-enhancing drugs but her achievements in Seoul are nevertheless tainted by association and she has often been overlooked for the type of honours that are usually lavished on retired athletes with similar achievements.