Gisela Grothaus-Steigerwald (DEU)

Gisela’s six wildwater world medals makes her the most successful female whitewater kayaker in German history.

Primarily a wildwater competitor, Gisela underwent a crash program to prepare for the ’72 Olympics. In doing so, she seriously injured a shoulder during practice runs and had to stop training until race day where she had a remarkable run to capture the silver medal.

After the Olympics, Gisela went back to wildwater competition capturing six individual World Championship medals over the next decade; with three K-1 Gold Medals (1973, 1975, 1977) and three K-1 Silver Medals (1979, 1981, 1983). She has been an instructor, including for the Madawaska Kanu Centre in Canada, for young up and coming athletes and remains active working as a coach for the German Canoe Federation.