Steffi Kräker

Stefanie Biskupek-Kräker (née Kräker; 21 April 1960) is a German former gymnast who competed for East Germany at the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games. Over her career she won four Olympic medals and six world championship medals.

Steffi Kräker
Personal information
Country represented	East Germany
Born	(1960-04-21) 21 April 1960 Leipzig, East Germany
Residence	Leipzig, Saxony
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	1976–81 (GDR)
Medal record Representing East Germany Olympic Games 1980 Moscow Vault 1976 Montreal Team 1980 Moscow Team 1980 Moscow Uneven Bars World Championships 1978 Strasbourg Team 1978 Strasbourg Vault 1979 Fort Worth Team 1979 Fort Worth Vault 1981 Moscow Team 1981 Moscow Vault World Cup Final 1978 São Paulo Uneven Bars 1979 Tokyo Uneven Bars 1977 Oviedo All-Around 1977 Oviedo Balance Beam 1977 Oviedo Floor Exercise 1980 Toronto Uneven Bars 1977 Oviedo Uneven Bars 1980 Toronto All-Around European Championships 1977 Prague Uneven Bars

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R0321-0001, Steffi Kräker, Marion Kische, Gitta Escher, Ricarda Schmeißer, Angelika Hellmann

Career

Kräker began competing on the GDR national team in 1976. One of her earliest senior competitions was the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where she won a team bronze medal.

Following these Olympics Kräker emerged as a major member of the GDR team. In 1977 she became the 1977 GDR national champion and won a bronze on the uneven bars at the 1977 European Championships. At the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg she won two bronze medals: team and vault. At the 1979 World Championships in Fort Worth she again won bronze with the team and on vault.

The 1980 Olympic Games were Kräker's most successful championship; she received team and bars bronze medals and a silver medal on the vault. Kräker's last major competition was the 1981 World Championships in Moscow where she won team and vault bronze medals.

Kräker was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in 1980.

Post-retirement

After her retirement, Biskupek-Kräker became an international judge.

Biskupek-Kräker now works as a child psychologist and psychotherapist in her hometown of Leipzig. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2011.

Eponymous skill

Kräker has one eponymous skill listed in the Code of Points.

Apparatus	Name	Description	Difficulty
Uneven bars	Kraeker	Underswing with half turn, tucked back salto with full-turn	D

See also

• 1979 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
• 1981 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
• Gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics
• Gymnastics at the 1980 Summer Olympics
• List of Olympic medalists in gymnastics (women)

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20101111082133/http://www.gymn.ca/gymnasticgreats/wag/kraker.htm
• Steffi Kräker at the International Gymnastics Federation
• Steffi Kräker at the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
• Steffi Kräker at Olympics.com
• Steffi Kräker at Olympedia