Birte Weigang (born 31 January 1968 in Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

) is a former butterfly and backstroke

Backstroke

The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...

 swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics

1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 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

Kristin Otto

Kristin Otto is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic games...

, Silke Hörner

Silke Hörner

Silke Hörner is a German former breaststroke swimmer, a leading member of the 1980s East German swimming team. She won two Olympic gold medals, in the 200 m breaststroke and 4×100 m medley relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and set four individual world records...

 and Katrin Meißner

Katrin Meißner

Katrin Meißner, last name alternatively spelled as "Meissner", is a former freestyle swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea...

, and finished second in both the 100 m and the 200 m butterfly. She won a gold medal in 1987 at the European Championships, at women's 4×100 m medley.

She is a daughter of the legendary Horst Weigang

Horst Weigang

Horst Weigang is a German former footballer. He is the father of swimmer Birte Weigang, and his son Sven was also a footballer.-External links:*...

, 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

Backstroke

The backstroke, also sometimes called the back crawl, is one of the four swimming styles regulated by FINA, and the only regulated style swum on the back. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. It is also the only...

 champion. Later she concentrated on butterfly style and won a silver medal at the World Championships in 1986, which were held in Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

.

After Birte has given up her swimming career, she became a coach.