[2] She was born Karin Richert in Magdeburg, and competed in several track and field events in her teens.

Now competing as Karin Balzer, she won her first international medal, silver, at the 1962 European Athletics Championships.

While in training for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Balzer's son, Andreas was involved in an accident, and was comatised.

He died the day before the final of the 100 m hurdles, but her husband did not tell her until after the race, in which she won her second Olympic medal, bronze.

In parallel, from 1970 to 1976 she studied at Deutsche Hochschule für Körperkultur (DHfK) and earned a degree in physical education, and from 1973 to 1976 coached athletics at SC Leipzig together with her husband.

They were suspended in 1976 after refusing to administer anabolic steroids to their trainees, and moved to Dresden, where Balzer worked as a school teacher through the 1970s and 80s.