Cornelia Pfohl

Cornelia Pfohl (born 23 February 1971) is a German archer who appeared at four straight Summer Olympics, from 1992 through 2004. She earned two Olympic medals in the women’s team competition: a silver in 1996 and a bronze in 2000. She drew notice at both the 2000 and 2004 Games for competing while pregnant—first with her daughter, then with her second child.

Pfohl first competed at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, placing 44th in the women’s individual event and helping the German team finish tenth. Four years later, in 1996, she reached the team final. With Germany leading South Korea by one point and nine of the 27 arrows remaining, Pfohl’s arrow landed in the outermost ring for just one point, allowing South Korea to pull ahead and win their third consecutive team gold.

At the 2000 Sydney Games, Pfohl was in the early stages of pregnancy with her daughter Mara. She won a bronze medal in the women’s team event and finished 24th individually. For that bronze, she received the Silver Laurel Leaf from Federal President Johannes Rau.

Pfohl’s qualification for the 2004 Athens Games came as a surprise, prompting her to postpone wedding plans. She competed while 30 weeks pregnant with her second child. After placing 18th in the ranking round, she defeated Canada’s Marie-Pier Beaudet 146–128 in the first elimination round. In the round of 32, she lost 158–156 to Russia’s Margarita Galinovskaya.