Claudia Poll
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Claudia Poll |
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| Women's Swimming | |||
Competitor for  Costa Rica |
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| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1996 Atlanta | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 2000 Sydney | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 2000 Sydney | 400 m Freestyle | |
| World Championships (LC) | |||
| Gold | 1998 Perth | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Silver | 2001 Fukuoka | 400 m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 1994 Roma | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 1994 Roma | 400 m Freestyle | |
| World Championsips (SC) | |||
| Gold | 1995 Rio de Janeiro | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1995 Rio de Janeiro | 400 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Gothenburg | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Gothenburg | 400 m Freestyle | |
| Pan Pacific Championships | |||
| Gold | 1997 Fukuoka | 200 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Fukuoka | 400 m Freestyle | |
Claudia Maria Poll Ahrens (born December 21, 1972) is a Nicaraguan-born swimmer, with Costa Rican citizenship.
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[edit] Career
Poll was born in Managua, Nicaragua, where her German parents lived for a short time. After the 1972 earthquake of Managua and rising political problems, Claudia's parents decided to move south to Costa Rica. Poll became a citizen of Costa Rica in 1993.[1] She began swimming in 1979 under coach Francisco Rivas and quickly became one of the best in Central America, winning many regional titles.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics she won the Gold medal in the 200 m Freestyle event. The win was the first gold medal for Costa Rica in a summer Olympic game. It was a surprising win because she snatched the medal from the favorite Germany's Franziska Van Almsick. Dagmar Hase, also from Germany won the bronze.
In 1997, she was named by Swimming World Magazine as the Female Swimmer of the Year.
At the Sydney 2000, Poll continued with her medal run and won 2 bronze medals. In Athens 2004, she just missed out on the 400 m Freestyle final, ending up 9th on the time table.
[edit] Honors
Claudia Poll was declared "Honor Citizen" by the Costa Rican Congress in 1996; she was the first Latin American woman in winning a Gold Medal in an official swimming competition in the Olympic Games; she was declared Costa Rican Sportwoman of the Year in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000; she was declared the Best Latin American Athlete in 1995, 1996, and 1997 by the Agencia Prensa Latina; selected as the World's Best Swimmer by Swimming World Magazine in 1997;[2] and was declared Costa Rica's Best Athlete of the Century in 1999.[3]
[edit] Doping
Claudia was accused of doping in 2002. She appealed the verdict but on 3 June 2002, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed the appeal against the decision of the FINA Doping Panel and decided to sanction her for a positive out-of-competition doping control with nandrolone metabolites, with a 4 year suspension.[citation needed] The 4 year suspension was later reduced to 2 years in the course of harmonization of FINA and WADA doping rules. To this day Claudia still defends her innocence.
[edit] Personal
Claudia graduated in Business Administration from the Universidad Internacional de las Américas, San José, Costa Rica, in 1998.[4] Poll became a mother for the first time on August 8, 2007. Her daughter's name is Cecilia.
[edit] References
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Incumbent |
Women's 400 metre freestyle world record holder (short course) April 18, 1997 – January 26, 2003 |
Succeeded by Lindsay Benko |
| Awards | ||
Preceded by Penny Heyns |
World Swimmer of the Year 1997 |
Succeeded by Jenny Thompson |
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