Olympic Champion Birgit Fischer

Birgit Fischer was born in what was then "East" Germany. The Berlin Wall was still in place, and east and west were firmly separated. Birgit is a kayaker who was an Olympic athlete for what was then East Germany in two Olympic Games. Then she was an Olympic athlete an astounding four additional times for Germany after East and West Germany were reunited.

What is even more amazing is that Birgit Fischer won her first Olympic gold medal in flatwater canoeing when she was just 18 years old in 1980 — but she won the last of her eight Olympic gold medals for flatwater canoeing in 2004 when she was 42 years old.

Birgit Fischer announced her retirement twice — once after the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, Korea, where she won two gold medals; and again after the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney, Australia, where she also won two gold medals. After both these retirement announcements, she returned to competition. Once a competitive athlete, always a competitive athlete — or at least as long as it is possible to be a competitive athlete, and for Birgit Fischer, that time for competing lasted an amazing 24 years.

After the 2004 Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece, she was voted Sportswoman of the Year in Germany — a well-deserved honor.

In 1984 Birgit Fischer married Jörg Schmidt, who was also a canoeist. Sadly, the marriage didn't last and it ended in divorce in 1993. The couple had two children. Today Birgit Fischer lives in Brandenburg, Germany, with the two children. She likes to "dabble" in politics from time to time and even made an attempt to become a member of the European Parliament for the Free Democratic Party in 1999. Her bid for election was unsuccessful.

Birgit Fischer won a total of eight Olympic gold medals and four Olympic silver medals.