# Elisabeth Micheler Jones
**Elisabeth Micheler-Jones** (born 1966 in Augsburg, Bavaria) is a German slalom canoeist who won the gold medal in women's kayak singles (K1) at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and later became a course designer for the International Canoe Federation (ICF). She competed for [West Germany](https://www.edgepedia.org/west-germany) and then Germany from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, and spent her whole club career with Kanu Schwaben Augsburg, based at the Augsburg Eiskanal artificial whitewater course where she grew up.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) • [2](https://www.kanu.de/Elisabeth-Micheler-Jones-ist-neue-ICF-Kursdesignerin-74185.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966 in Augsburg, Bayern (GER); 160 cm / 52 kg[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) |
| Club | TSV Schwaben Augsburg (Kanu Schwaben), member since 1982[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) • [3](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html) |
| Olympic result | Gold, women's K1 slalom, Barcelona 1992 (126.41 points, at La Seu d'Urgell); tenth, Atlanta 1996[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-02-sp-5851-story.html) • [5](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/elisabeth-micheler-jones/3698) |
| World Championships | 2 golds and 2 bronzes: K1 team and K1 bronze 1987, K1 gold 1991, K1 team bronze 1995[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) • [6](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/sportlerprofil/elisabeth-micheler-jones.html) |
| Other titles | European silver (K1 team, 1996); 15 German national titles[6](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/sportlerprofil/elisabeth-micheler-jones.html) |
| Later roles | ICF slalom course designer from 2020; Friedberg city councilor since 2008[2](https://www.kanu.de/Elisabeth-Micheler-Jones-ist-neue-ICF-Kursdesignerin-74185.html) • [3](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html) |
## Olympic career
Slalom returned to the Olympic program in Barcelona after a 20-year absence, and Micheler won the second women's K1 title of the modern era, following [Angelika Bahmann](https://www.edgepedia.org/angelika-bahmann)'s 1972 victory, on the River Segre course at La Seu d'Urgell.[8](https://www.olympedia.org/event_names/181) Her winning total was 126.41 points, ahead of Australia's Danielle Woodward at 128.27 and the American Dana Chladek at 131.75.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-02-sp-5851-story.html) She competed as Elisabeth Micheler for Germany; she had earlier represented West Germany at the 1987 World Championships.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870)
Four years later, competing under her married name at the Atlanta Games on the Ocoee River course, she finished tenth with 176.56 points.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) • [5](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/elisabeth-micheler-jones/3698) These were her two Olympic appearances.[5](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/elisabeth-micheler-jones/3698)
## World and European championships
Micheler's international record spans four World Championships. At Bourg-Saint-Maurice in 1987, competing for West Germany, she took bronze in individual K1 (222.22 points) and gold in the K1 team event.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) • [5](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/elisabeth-micheler-jones/3698) She won the individual K1 world title at Tacen in 1991 with 181.08 points.[5](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/elisabeth-micheler-jones/3698) In 1993 at Mezzana she placed fourth with 150.2 points,[5](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/elisabeth-micheler-jones/3698) and in 1995 at [Nottingham](https://www.edgepedia.org/nottingham) she won team bronze.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) Her club's record sheet adds a European silver in the K1 team event, which other sources place at the 1996 European Championships in Augsburg, and 15 German national titles.[6](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/sportlerprofil/elisabeth-micheler-jones.html) Olympedia records national titles in 1990 and 1996.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870)
## Family and life in Augsburg
After the 1992 Barcelona Olympics she married the British slalom canoeist Melvyn Jones, a fellow Olympian who finished seventh in the men's K1 final at those same Games and won World Championship team gold in K1 in 1983 and 1987.[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) • [3](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html) Their daughters Selina and Chiara both competed in canoe slalom with considerable success, and her brother Peter was also a world-class whitewater canoeist.[3](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html) • [1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870)
She stayed close to her home water. She worked with the municipality of Augsburg and became sports advisor for the nearby city of [Friedberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/friedberg).[1](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870) Since 2008 she has sat on Friedberg's city council, and at the 2026 local elections she ran for mayor as the candidate of the Parteifreie Bürger Friedberg.[3](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html) She was also involved in bringing the WPA World Paddle Award ceremony to Augsburg's Golden Hall in 2015, where she was the first couple to hold a wedding.[3](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html)
## ICF course designer
At the start of 2020 Micheler-Jones took on a new role as an ICF slalom course designer, the woman responsible for shaping the gate sequences at World Cups and World Championships. The offer came from Sue Natoli of Australia, a member of the ICF Canoe Slalom Technical Committee since 2008, and committee chair Jean Michel Prono of France, who approached her at the 2019 Prague World Cup; she accepted after the German Canoe Federation (DKV) approved the appointment.[2](https://www.kanu.de/Elisabeth-Micheler-Jones-ist-neue-ICF-Kursdesignerin-74185.html) Her first assignment was the opening 2020 World Cup in Ivrea, Italy, a course she knew both as a spectator and as a competitor in the previous year's European Master Games. She said the aim was to represent the female perspective in ICF course design.[2](https://www.kanu.de/Elisabeth-Micheler-Jones-ist-neue-ICF-Kursdesignerin-74185.html)
## Place in the sport
Micheler-Jones is one of two German women to have won Olympic K1 slalom gold, the other being [Ricarda Funk](https://www.edgepedia.org/ricarda-funk) in Tokyo 2020; East Germany's Angelika Bahmann won the event's Olympic debut in Munich 1972.[7](https://www.canoeicf.com/news/olympic-kayak-gold-will-go-down-wire) Within her own club she belongs to a line of Augsburg Olympic medalists in slalom that includes [Oliver Fix](https://www.edgepedia.org/oliver-fix) (1996 gold), [Thomas Schmidt](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-schmidt) (2000 gold), Alexander Grimm (2008 gold), Sideris Tasiadis, Ricarda Funk, Elena Lilik, and Noah Hegge.[3](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html)
## References
1. [Elisabeth Micheler-Jones, Olympedia](https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/9870)
2. [Elisabeth Micheler-Jones ist neue ICF-Kursdesignerin, Deutscher Kanu-Verband (6 January 2020)](https://www.kanu.de/Elisabeth-Micheler-Jones-ist-neue-ICF-Kursdesignerin-74185.html)
3. [Elisabeth Micheler-Jones feiert am 30.04.2026 ihren 60. Geburtstag, Kanu Schwaben Augsburg e.V.](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/news-details-kanu-schwaben-augsburg/kanu-schwaben-nunmehr-mit-zwei-doppelspitzen-in-der-vorstandschaft-vertreten-kopie.html)
4. [Barcelona '92 Olympics: Canoe/kayak medalists, Los Angeles Times (2 August 1992)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-02-sp-5851-story.html)
5. [Elisabeth Micheler-Jones, L'Équipe](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/elisabeth-micheler-jones/3698)
6. [Elisabeth Micheler-Jones, athlete profile, Kanu Schwaben Augsburg e.V.](https://www.kanu-schwaben-augsburg.de/sportlerprofil/elisabeth-micheler-jones.html)
7. [Olympic kayak gold will go down to the wire, ICF Planet Canoe (28 July 2023)](https://www.canoeicf.com/news/olympic-kayak-gold-will-go-down-wire)
8. [Olympedia, Canoe Slalom, Kayak Singles (K1), Slalom, Women](https://www.olympedia.org/event_names/181)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Water sports › Canoeists and kayakers (biographies) › Slalom canoeists and kayakers*
*Initially written Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license