Susen TIEDTKE

Susen Tiedtke was the daughter of Ingrid, 1966 European Championships finalist in the 200 metres, and Jürgen Tiedtke, a former East German pole vaulter. Her sister Pia was an East German handball international until reunification, and her uncle Manfred was an Olympian decathlete. Susen participated in the long jump in 1992 (eighth) and 2000 (fifth).

Until 1985 Susen Tiedtke competed nationally as a gymnast and was 1982 East German champion on the balance beam. In 1984 she was nominated for the East German Olympic gymnastics team, but could not start due to the Soviet-led boycott. She then turned to athletics and participated in several international competitions in the long jump, including the World Championships in 1991 (fifth), 1993 (ninth), 1997 (sixth), and 1999 (seventh). In 1998 she came in eighth at the European Championships. At the European Cup she placed third in 1997, and fourth in both 1998 and 2000. Even more successfully she claimed a silver medal at the 1993 World Indoors and a bronze in 1995. Domestically she won German titles in 1993 and 1997, adding second places in 1991 and 1998-2000, and also earned several podiums at the German Indoors.

On 13 March 1995, only 24 hours after winning the bronze medal at the World Indoors in Barcelona, a doping control by the German Athletics Association resulted in a positive test for the anabolic steroid turinabol. On 10 April 1995, she was suspended by the German Anti-Doping Commission and banned until March 1997.

Susen Tiedtke also worked as a model for prestigious clothing companies in television commercials, fashion, lifestyle and news magazines. In January 2000, she recorded the song “Sag ihr auch” (“Tell Her Also”) alongside German pop singer Bernhard Brink. She posed nude in the August 2001 edition of the German Playboy. Tiedtke was considered one of the most attractive female athletes and was named “Miss Athletics” and “Miss Olympia” by German journalists.

From 1993-98, she was married to American long jumper Joe Greene, but was involved in a difficult and contentious divorce. She then married industrial manager and former professional German tennis player Hendrik Dreekmann in 2005, but they later separated. Susen Tiedtke trained as a physiotherapist and opened her own practice as a national health professional in Berlin. During her stay in the US she studied economics and finance in Ohio.

Personal Best: LJ – 7.00 (1991).