Anna-Maria MÜLLER

Anna-Maria Müller was an East German luger who grew up in Riesengebirge and learned to luge at Friedrichsroda, when she was noticed for her athletic talents at school, a common practice among many East German schools to recruit sport stars. She competed in the late 1960s and early 1970s winning the gold medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. At the 1968 Winter Olympics she initially finished second after the competition was shortened to three runs due to bad weather, but was disqualified with her East German teammates Ortrun Enderlein and Angela Knösel when it was noticed that they had illegally heated their runners. Enderlein, leading at the time, and Müller were stripped of their respective medals as a result. Her other major medals included runner-up at the 1966 European Junior Championships, East German Champion in 1967 and 1969, 1970 European Champion, and runner-up at the 1969 World Championships. After the Sapporo Olympics she retired and made her living as a pharmacist in Berlin.