General · EdgepediaOctober 21, 20262 min read

Gabi Lohs-Kühn

Gabi Lohs-Kühn (full name Gabriele "Gabi" Lohs-Kühn) is a German rower, born in 1957 in Dresden, who won two Olympic gold medals for East Germany: in the women's coxed fours at the 1976 Montréal Games and, under her married name Gabi Kühn, in the women's eights at the 1980 Moskva Games.¹

Key fact	Detail
Born	1957 in Dresden, Sachsen¹
Club	SC Einheit Dresden, Dresden¹
Measurements	184 cm / 86 kg¹
1976 Montréal	Gold, women's coxed fours; the first female rowing gold for East Germany¹
1980 Moskva	Gold, women's eights, competing as Gabi Kühn¹
World titles	Gold in the eights at the 1977 World Championships, silver in 1978¹

Early career

Lohs began as a sculler and won the East German youth national title with the quadruple sculls in 1972, regaining it in 1975; in 1975 she also won at the Spartakiade and at the East German junior championships.¹

1976 Montréal Olympics

The first decision raced was the coxed four, won by the Dresden boat, which gave East Germany its first Olympic gold medal in women's rowing.¹ In the round one heat on 19 July 1976 the crew set an Olympic record of 3:22.55 over the 1,000 m course.¹ L'Équipe records the final winning time as 3:45.08 on 1 August 1976.²

World championships and the move to the eights

In 1977 all five rowers from the gold-medal four sat in the East German eight that won the World Championships in Amsterdam, the third consecutive world title for the boat class.¹ That year Lohs also won the East German national title with the eights.¹ After her marriage in 1978 she competed as Gabi Kühn and was the only member of the 1977 world-champion crew rowing in the East German eight that took the silver medal at the 1978 World Championships in New Zealand, behind the Soviet Union.¹

1980 Moskva Olympics

For the 1980 season coach Dieter Grahn reshuffled the East German eight. L'Équipe records the winning time as 3:03.32 on 3 August 1980.²

Later life

Kühn studied civil engineering and worked at the Dresden branch of VEB Spezialhochbau Berlin, an East German specialized construction enterprise.¹ She is the stepmother of Olympic rowing coxswain Pete Cipollone.¹ In the FISA all-time Olympic medal table for women rowers (since 1976), Gabriele Kühn-Lohs appears among the athletes with two gold medals, listed for the coxed four and the eight.³

References

Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026