Christa Luding-Rothenburger

In 1988 the East German won speed skating gold in the 1000m and silver in the 500m at the Calgary Winter Olympics, then seven months later took silver in the cycling sprint at the Seoul Summer Games. She remains the only athlete to win medals at Winter and Summer Olympics in the same calendar year, a feat now impossible because the Games were separated in 1994. Skating and track sprinting both depend on explosive leg power and a low, aerodynamic position.