Petra Thümer

Petra Thümer

Petra Thümer in 1976
Personal information
Nationality	East German
Born	(1961-01-29) 29 January 1961 Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany (now Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany)
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	SC Karl-Marx-Stadt
Medal record Women's swimming Representing  East Germany Olympic Games 1976 Montreal 400 m freestyle 1976 Montreal 800 m freestyle European Championships 1977 Jönköping 200 m freestyle 1977 Jönköping 400 m freestyle 1977 Jönköping 800 m freestyle

Petra Thümer (later Deckert then Katzur, born 29 January 1961) is a former swimmer from East Germany. She won gold medals in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics¹ and the 1977 European Aquatics Championships. During her career she set five world records in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle. In 1987 she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.²

Later she admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs as part of the East German training system.³⁴ For this reason she missed the 1978 World Championships – coaches feared she would not pass the doping test and excluded her from the East German team, officially explaining her absence by injuries.⁵

In 1979 she retired from swimming and worked as a photographer.³

She was married to the German Olympic athletes Klaus Katzur (swimmer) and Alf-Gerd Deckert (cross-country skier).¹