Marlene Ahrens

Marlene Ahrens Ostertag-Ebensperger (July 27, 1933 – June 17, 2020) was a Chilean athlete. She won the silver medal in Javelin throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne with a distance of 50.38 metres. She was the mother of journalist Karin Ebensperger.

Biography Ahrens was born in Concepción, Chile, the daughter of German immigrants. In Melbourne, she was the Chilean flag bearer, and the only woman on the Olympic team. She participated in the Javelin throw, winning the silver medal with a distance of 50.38 metres. In doing so, she became the first Chilean woman to win an Olympic medal. She won gold in both 1959 Pan American Games, held in Chicago, and 1963 Pan American Games held in São Paulo. Also, she again was the flag bearer in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, although she did not win a medal. Ahrens was forced to retire after having a dispute with the Chilean newspaper Clarín, and she was banned from competing in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

After athletics she began to play tennis and in 1967, won the Chilean national tournament in mixed doubles with Omar Pabst. Soon after that, she injured her knee and dedicated her life to Equestrianism. She competed in the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata. She retired from horse riding in 2012, at 79 years old.

She married Jorge Roberto Ebensperger Grassau, a hockey player and another descendant of German settlers ; they gave birth to 2 children: Karin Ebensperger and Roberto Ebensperger. She is the grandmother of Marlén Eguiguren, also a journalist like her mother Karin.

On the night of June 17, 2020, Ahrens died of heart failure in Santiago de Chile at the age of 86.

International competitions