Lina Radke was the first Olympic champion in the 800 m for women.
10 Facts About Lina Radke
2.
In 1927, she married Georg Lina Radke, who was her coach and a manager of her club SC Baden-Baden.
3.
The couple moved to Georg's hometown of Breslau, where in 1927 Lina Radke set her first 800 m world record.
4.
Together with her husband, Lina Radke was one of the pioneers of female athletics in the mid-1920s.
5.
Competitions for women were not held frequently, but Lina Radke nevertheless won several regional and national titles.
6.
Lina Radke first specialised in the 1000 m, but when this was changed into the 800 m, she switched to that event.
7.
The highlight of Lina Radke's career were those 1928 Summer Olympics, as she won the inaugural title in the 800 m, earning the first German gold medal in athletics.
8.
The IOC was however not pleased with the fact that several of Lina Radke's competitors had been totally exhausted after the race, and decided to banish the event from the Games; it would not be included again until 1960.
9.
Lina Radke retired in 1934, after finishing fourth in the 800 m at the last Women's World Games.
10.
Lina Radke's husband took part in World War II and was held as a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union.