Gisela Birkemeyer (born December 22, 1931 in Fasendorf/Ore Mountains, Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

) is a former athlete and Olympic medal winner from Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, who was born as Gisela Köhler. She was one of the best athletes in the 80m hurdling

Hurdling

Hurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...

.

In the GDR championships, Birkemeyer won gold in the 80m hurdles in the years 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960. In the 200m sprint she also won gold in the same years. In the 80m hurdles, she continuously won the GDR masters between years 1953 and 1961.
Birkemeyer competed for the United Team of Germany

United Team of Germany

The Unified Team of Germany , competed in the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games as a united team of athletes from the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic...

 and won two medals, the silver medal

Silver medal

A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

 at the 1956 Summer Olympics

1956 Summer Olympics

The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...

 in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, behind the Australian Shirley Strickland

Shirley Strickland

Shirley Barbara Strickland AO, MBE , later Shirley de la Hunty, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports.-Family:...

 and ahead of the Australian Norma Thrower

Norma Thrower

Norma Claire Thrower is a retired Australian hurdler. Born as Norma Austin, the South Australian hurdler ran for the Western Districts club in Adelaide....

. At the European Athletics Championships meeting in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 in 1958, she was third in the 80-meter hurdles. In 1959 she was voted GDR Sportswoman of the Year. At the 1960 Summer Olympics

1960 Summer Olympics

The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...

 in Rome, she won the bronze medal behind Briton Carole Quinton

Carole Quinton

Carole Louise Quinton is a former English athlete, who competed in the sprint and short hurdles events.She competed for Great Britain in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy, where she won the silver medal in the 100m Hurdles.-References:...

 and Irina Press

Irina Press

Irina Natanovna Press was a Ukrainian athlete.-Career:Press was Jewish. She won two Olympic gold medals for the USSR team, in 80 m hurdles and pentathlon...

, who competed for the Soviet Union. In addition, Birkemeyer became GDR champion in the 100m and 200m sprint 40 times between 1951 and 1964.

Birkemeyer belonged to the Sport Club Dynamo. She is 1.62 metres tall and had a racing weight of about of 60 kg.
After the end of her sports career, she worked as a coach and was a member of the SC Dynamo Berlin, in East Berlin

East Berlin

East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...

. She now lives as an pensioner in Berlin Marzahn.