Evelin Jahl

Evelin Jahl (née Schlaak and later Herberg, born 28 March 1956 in Annaberg-Buchholz, Saxony, East Germany) is a German former discus thrower, who won two Olympic gold medals representing East Germany.

Evelin Jahl

Personal information
Birth name	Evelin Schlaak
Born	(1956-03-28) 28 March 1956 Annaberg-Buchholz, Saxony, East Germany
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Discus
Club	ASK Vorwärts Potsdam
Coached by	Lothar Hillebrandt
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	71.50 m (1980)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  East Germany Olympic Games 1976 Montreal Discus 1980 Moscow Discus IAAF World Cup 1979 Montreal Discus 1981 Rome Discus European Championships 1978 Prague Discus Universiade 1979 Mexico City Discus throw

In 1976 she won the women's discus throwing event at the Montreal Summer Olympics defeating favourite and world record holder Faina Melnik.[1] In 1978 she set a new world record and also won the European Championships. Two years later Jahl defended the Olympic title in Moscow, again relegating Vergova, also competing under her married name (Petkova), into second place.[1] From 1980 until 2016 Jahl was the only discus thrower to defend her Olympic title and win two Olympic gold medals.[2] Her feat was equalled by Sandra Perković of Croatia on 17 August 2016 at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

She retired from throwing in 1982 after an injury. She later became GDR chairperson of a commission in the GDR track and field association DVfL.[1]

After the 1976 Olympics she married shot putter Norbert Jahl und competed under her married name for the rest of her sporting career. Shortly after her retirement, she married the swim trainer Harald Herberg but she soon divorced him.[3]

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Evelin Schlaak-Jahl". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
2. "IAAF: Turning the clock back to Moscow 1980| News | iaaf.org". iaaf.org. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
3. Kluge, Volker (2004). Das große Lexikon der DDR-Sportler: Die 1000 erfolgreichsten und populärsten Sportlerinnen und Sportler aus der DDR, ihre Erfolge, Medaillen und Biographien [The big lexicon of the GDR athletes: The 1000 most successful and popular athletes from the GDR, their successes, medals and biographies.] (in German) (2 ed.). Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag. pp. 257f. ISBN 3-89602-538-4.

• Schlaak-Jahl-Herberg rzutyiskoki.pl (in Polish)

Records
Preceded by Faina Melnik	Women's Discus World Record Holder 12 August 1978 – 15 July 1980	Succeeded by Mariya Petkova
Sporting positions
Preceded by Sabine Engel Mariya Petkova	Women's Discus Best Year Performance 1978–1979 1981	Succeeded by Mariya Petkova Irina Meszynski