Carola Zirzow

Bärbel Köster and Carola Zirzow (right) during training in Montreal in 1976

Carola Zirzow (born September 15, 1954 in Prenzlau ) is a former German canoeist .

Carola Zirzow started for SC Neubrandenburg , where she was trained by Horst Kautzke . In 1972 she won the two-man kayak and four-man kayak at the children's and youth spartakiad , 1972 and 1974 GDR champion with Ilse Kaschube in two-man kayaks, and from 1974 to 1976 also four-man kayak . In 1974 and 1975 she became world champion in four-man kayaks, and in 1975 she also won two with Bärbel Köster . In 1976 Zirzow won the title of GDR champion in a single kayak , but benefited from the absence of Anke Ohde . Between the two there was an internal elimination race for participation in the Olympic Games in Montreal , which Zirzow was able to win. Then she won the single title over 500 m at the games and also the bronze medal over 500 m in a two-man kayak with Köster.

But then there were internal problems with the GDR team leadership. Because she was friends with the Italian canoeist Oreste Perri , she did not return to the Olympic village the night after the Olympic victory. Thereupon the top sports official of the GDR, Manfred Ewald , decided to remove Zirzow from the national team. The GDR leadership did not like the relationship between the two. For her success she was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver, but was not allowed to continue her career. After her career, Zirzow became a physiotherapist. The native of Neubrandenburg is married to a doctor and works in his practice.

literature

• Volker Kluge : The great lexicon of GDR athletes. The 1000 most successful and popular athletes from the GDR, their successes and biographies. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89602-348-9 , p. 439.
• Olaf W. Reimann:  Zirzow, Carola . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

• Carola Zirzow in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About the honor for the Olympic team of the GDR. Awarded high government awards. Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In: New Germany . September 10, 1976, p. 4 , accessed on April 10, 2018 (online at ZEFYS - newspaper portal of the Berlin State Library , free registration required).