Gabriele Reinsch

Gabriele Reinsch (23 September 1963 in Cottbus) is a German track and field athlete. She represented East Germany in the 1988 Olympic Games in discus throw.

On 9 July 1988 at the East Germany – Italy tournament in Neubrandenburg she set a new world record with a throw of 76.80 metres (252.0 ft). This was 2.24 metres (7 ft 4 in) further than the previous record, set by the Czechoslovakian Zdenka Šilhavá, and 2.72 metres (8 ft 11 in) further than the world record for men (who throw a discus weighing twice as much) set by Jürgen Schult (DDR) 6 June 1986. Reinsch's record still stands (the East German Martina Hellmann had in fact thrown 76.92 metres (252.4 ft) and 78.14 metres (256.4 ft), both on 6 September 1988, but these came in an unofficial event and could not be counted as the world record).

Reinsch began competing at the age of 14 and tried at first the high jump and shot put, even placing second in the shot put at the 1981 junior European championships. In 1982 she switched to the discus.

During the course of her world record-setting season she bettered her personal best by 9.62 metres (31.6 ft), from 67.18 metres (220.4 ft) (her personal best in 1987) to the record-setting 76.80 metres (252.0 ft) which brought some suspicions about use of doping.

Reinsch belonged to the Cottbus sport club until 1985 and then from 1986 to the ASK Potsdam. She trained with Lothar Hillebrand. During her competitive years she was 1.84 meters tall and weighed 88 kilograms.

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