Full name Birte Weigang Role Butterfly swimmer Name Birte Weigang | Sport Swimming Nationality East Germany Parents Horst Weigang | |
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Born 31 January 1968 (age 56) ( 1968-01-31 ) Leipzig, Saxony, East Germany Strokes Backstroke, medley, butterfly Olympic medals Swimming at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre butterfly Similar People Horst Weigang, Kathleen Nord, Kristin Otto, Mary T Meagher | ||
Birte Weigang (born 31 January 1968 in Leipzig) is a former butterfly and backstroke swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The twenty-year-old triumphed with the DDR women's relay team in the 4×100 m medley together with her teammates Kristin Otto, Silke Hörner and Katrin Meissner, and finished second in both the 100 m and the 200 m butterfly. She won a gold medal in 1987 at the European Championships, in the women's 4×100 m medley.
She is a daughter of the legendary Horst Weigang, once a footballer of the year for East Germany. She started her career in SC Turbine Erfurt. Weigang celebrated her biggest success in 1985, when at the age of 17 she became a European backstroke champion. Later she concentrated on butterfly style and won a silver medal at the World Championships in 1986, which were held in Madrid.
After Birte gave up her swimming career, she became a coach.