Dagmar Kersten

Dagmar Kersten (born 28 October 1970) is a German former artistic gymnast. She represented East Germany at the 1988 Olympic Games, winning a silver medal on the uneven bars and a bronze medal in the team event.

Without her knowledge, Kersten was part of the East German doping program and was given pills starting at 13. At the 1985 World Championships in Montreal, she won a bronze medal in the team event as the highest-scoring member of the team and another in the all-around behind joint winners Oksana Omelianchik and Elena Shushunova of the Soviet Union. She also made all four apparatus finals, where she won silver on bars behind GDR teammate Gabriele Fahnrich and a bronze on the vault. She was sixth on floor and eighth on the balance beam.

In 1985, she suffered a serious spine injury and had to stop training. As part of her recovery treatment, she was prescribed Oral Turinabol, an anabolic steroid. Her physician, Dr. Bernd Pansold, was later convicted in 1998 for the procurement of drugs to minors. Before the 1988 Olympics, she was administered other performance-enhancing drugs under the disguise of nutrition supplements. She also finished sixth in the vault final and eighth in the all-around.

Post-competitive career After German reunification, Kersten moved to Stuttgart and worked at the Swabian Gymnastics Federation.

Kersten has appeared as a motivational speaker, talking about her experience with being experimented on by the East German doping program.

Competitive history

YearEventTeamAAVTUBBBFX Junior 1983 Children's and Youth Spartakiade 1984 Junior Friendship Tournament 24 8 Senior 1985 Cottbus International 4 DTB Cup 4 66 Dynamo Spartakiade European Championships 5 6 GDR-HUN Dual Meet GDR-NOR-SWE Tri-Meet World Championships 8 6 1987 DTB Cup GDR Championships 1988 China Cup Cottbus International 8 6 GDR Championships GDR Olympic Trials Moscow News 5 9 8 Olympic Games 6