Lina Radke facts for kids
Lina Radke at the 1928 Summer Olympics
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| Personal information | |||||||||||
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| Born | 18 October 1903 Karlsruhe, German Empire |
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| Died | 14 February 1983 (aged 79) Karlsruhe, West Germany |
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| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 55 kg (121 lb) | ||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||
| Sport | Running | ||||||||||
| Club | SC Baden-Baden VfB Breslau |
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Medal record
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Karoline "Lina" Radke-Batschauer (born October 18, 1903 – died February 14, 1983) was a famous German track and field athlete. She made history by becoming the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter running event. Her achievements helped change how people viewed women in sports.
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A Pioneer in Women's Sports
Lina Batschauer, as she was known before marriage, started her sports career at age 20. Back then, many people thought running was too hard for women. Even Pierre de Coubertin, who started the modern Olympic Games, shared this view.
Marriage and Training
In 1927, Lina married Georg Radke. He was her coach and also managed her sports club, SC Baden-Baden. The couple moved to Breslau, which is now Wrocław in Poland. In Breslau, Lina set her first world record for the 800-meter race.
Lina and her husband worked together to promote women's athletics in the 1920s. There were not many competitions for women at that time. Still, Lina won many local and national titles.
Olympic Glory
Lina first focused on the 1000-meter race. But when the 800-meter event was added to the 1928 Summer Olympics, she switched to that distance. The 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam were the most important part of her career.
She won the very first Olympic title in the women's 800 meters. This was also the first gold medal for Germany in athletics. During this race, she set the first official world record for the event, finishing in 2 minutes and 16.8 seconds. This record lasted until 1944.
The 800m Race Controversy
After the 1928 Olympics, some news reports wrongly claimed that runners collapsed after the 800-meter race. Because of these false reports, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed the women's 800-meter event from the Games. It was not included again until 1960.
Life After the Olympics
In 1930, Lina Radke set another world record, this time for the 1000-meter race. She stopped competing in 1934. Her last major competition was the Women's World Games, where she finished fourth in the 800 meters.
After retiring from competition, Lina worked as an athletics coach. She coached in Breslau and later in Torgau. Her husband, Georg, was away during World War II. He was held as a prisoner of war. When he was released in 1950, the family moved to Karlsruhe.
