Ruth Fuchs

Ruth Fuchs (née Gamm, later Hellmann; 14 December 1946 – 20 September 2023) was a German politician and athlete. Fuchs, representing East Germany, was the winner of the women's javelin at the 1972 (Munich) and 1976 (Montreal) Olympic Games. She set the world record for the javelin six times during the 1970s. Her personal best throw was 69.96 metres with the old javelin type, achieved in April 1980 in Split. This ranks her seventh among German old-type-javelin throwers, behind Petra Felke (who held the world record), Antje Kempe, Silke Renk, Beate Koch, Karen Forkel, and Tanja Damaske. Fuchs admitted using steroids during her career, as part of the official East German sports programme. After retirement from track and field, Fuchs became a member of Parliament for the Party of Democratic Socialism (now the Left Party) in the re-united Germany. After her retirement from public life Fuchs lived in Bucha, Saale-Holzland, in Thuringia, Germany. Ruth Fuchs died at the University Hospital in Jena on 20 September 2023, at the age of 76.