Ilona Slupianek

Ilona Slupianek in 1981
Personal information
Birth name	Ilona Schoknecht
Nationality	German
Born	(1956-09-24) 24 September 1956 (age 67) Demmin, Bezirk Neubrandenburg, East Germany
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb)
Spouse	Hartmut Briesenick
Sport
Country	East Germany
Sport	athletics
Event	Shot put
Club	SC Dynamo Berlin
Achievements and titles
Personal best	22.45 m (1980)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  East Germany Olympic Games 1980 Moscow Shot put World Championships 1983 Helsinki Shot put World Indoor Championships 1987 Indianapolis Shot put European Championships 1978 Prague Shot put 1982 Athens Shot put IAAF World Cup 1977 Düsseldorf Shot put 1979 Montréal Shot put 1981 Rome Shot put Universiade 1979 Mexico City Shot put

Ilona Longo (née Schoknecht, divorced Briesenick and Slupianek; born 24 September 1956) is a German former shot putter who represented East Germany. As Ilona Slupianek, she won the 1980 Olympic title in Moscow and won European titles in 1978 and 1982. She is also a seven-time GDR champion. She twice broke the world record with puts of 22.36 metres and 22.45 metres in 1980. She was suspended for a year for doping.

Career

Born in Demmin, in the East German Bezirk Neubrandenburg, as Ilona Schoknecht she finished fifth at the 1976 Montreal Olympics with 20.54m. In 1977, she was disqualified after she tested positive for anabolic steroids at the European Cup meeting in Helsinki, where she dominated her event with a superlative 21.20.^[1]

The International Amateur Athletics Federation suspended Slupianek for 12 months, a penalty that ended two days before the 1978 European championships in Prague. In the reverse of what the IAAF hoped, sending her home to East Germany meant she was free to train unchecked with anabolic steroids, if she wanted to, and then compete for another gold medal. Now competing as Ilona Slupianek, she did win the gold medal in Prague, with a put of 21.41m. She went on to win the European Indoor title in 1979.^[2] She then won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In the next years she obtained gold at the European Indoor Championships in 1981 and the European Championships in 1982, followed by a bronze medal at the 1983 World Championships.^[2]

In 1984, she married fellow GDR shot putter Hartmut Briesenick. Competing as Ilona Briesenick, she won her final major medal when winning silver at the 1987 World Indoor Championships.

From 1976 to 1986 she was a deputy in the East German legislature, the Volkskammer, for the FDJ. She married for the third time in 2008. As of 2013, she lives in Italy. She had one daughter with Briesenick.^[3]