Helga ARENDT

Helga Arendt came in seventh in the 400 metres in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics and placed fourth with the 4x400 relay. She was 1989 Indoor World Champion in the 400 metres and won the silver medal at the 1988 European Indoors. The same year she ran on a team that set an indoor world record over 4×200 metres. Arendt won 14 German championships, as follows: 4×200 m indoor (1984, 1988), 4×400 m outdoor (1984, 1987-88, 1990-93), 400 m indoor (1987-89), and 400 metres outdoor (1988-89).

In 1990 an article in Der Spiegel revealed that there was a systematic doping scheme involving her home club Eintracht Hamm in the 1980s, under the guidance of then coach Jochen Spilker. Arendt and all the other female sprinters in the club had been involved - Gisela Kinzel, Silke Knoll and non-Olympians Mechthild Kluth and Andrea Hannemann - which ended their active careers shortly after the publication of the article.

Since 1999 Arendt worked as a lawyer specialized in traffic rights. She died in March 2013 after a long, difficult illness.

Personal Best: 400 – 50.36 (1988).