View source for Claudia Poll

{{short description|Costa Rican swimmer (born 1972)}}
{{family name hatnote|Poll|Ahrens|lang=Spanish}} 
{{Infobox swimmer
| name           = Claudia Poll
| image          = Claudia Poll.jpg 
| imagesize      = 
| alt            = 
| caption        = Poll in 2011
| fullname       = Claudia María Poll Ahrens 
| nicknames      = 
| nationality    = {{CRC}}
| strokes        = [[Freestyle swimming|Freestyle]]
| club           = Asociación de Natación Cariari
| coach          = 
| collegeteam    = 
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1972|12|21|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Managua|Managua, Nicaragua]]
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| height         = {{convert|1.91|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| weight         = 
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Women's [[swimming (sport)|swimming]]}}
{{MedalCountry | {{CRC}}}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Swimming at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Atlanta]] | [[Swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}} 
{{MedalBronze | [[Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Sydney]] | [[Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalBronze | 2000 Sydney | [[Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}} 
{{MedalCompetition | [[FINA World Aquatics Championships|World Championships (LC)]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships|1998 Perth]] | [[Swimming at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver | [[Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships|2001 Fukuoka]] | [[Swimming at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}} 
{{MedalBronze | [[Swimming at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships|1994 Rome]] | [[Swimming at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalBronze | 1994 Rome | [[Swimming at the 1994 World Aquatics Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}} 
{{MedalCompetition | [[FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|World Championships (SC)]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|1995 Rio de Janeiro]] | [[1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | 1995 Rio de Janeiro | [[1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1997 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)|1997 Gothenburg]] | [[1997 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | 1997 Gothenburg | [[1997 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|Pan Pacific Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1993 Kobe]] | [[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1997 Fukuoka]] | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalGold | 1997 Fukuoka | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver | 1993 Kobe | [[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalSilver | 1997 Fukuoka | [[1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalBronze | 1993 Kobe | [[1993 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 800 metre freestyle|800 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[1995 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1995 Atlanta]] | [[1995 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 200 metre freestyle|200 m freestyle]]}}
{{MedalBronze | [[1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships|1999 Sydney]] | [[1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships – Women's 400 metre freestyle|400 m freestyle]]}}
}}

'''Claudia María Poll Ahrens''' (born 21 December 1972) is a [[Costa Rica|Costa Rican]]-[[Nicaragua|Nicaraguan]] former [[swimming (sport)|swimmer]] who competed in the 200&nbsp;m to 800&nbsp;m freestyle events. She is [[Costa Rica at the Olympics|Costa Rica's]] only Olympic gold-medalist, having won the country's first Olympic gold medal at the [[Costa Rica at the 1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Olympics]] in the 200 meter freestyle.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.paradiseproductscr.com/claudia-poll-first-costa-rican-olympic-medalist-international-womens-day/ |title=Claudia Poll first Costa Rican Olympic gold medalist, International Women’s Day |access-date=2021-08-08 |archive-date=2021-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808193517/https://www.paradiseproductscr.com/claudia-poll-first-costa-rican-olympic-medalist-international-womens-day/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Claudia also competed at the [[Costa Rica at the 2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Olympics]], where she won two bronze medals. She is a multiple [[List of Costa Rican records in swimming|national record]] holder in the freestyle events.

She is the first person from Central America to win an Olympic gold medal. She was the only to do so until the [[2008 Olympic Games]] when long jump athlete [[Irving Saladino]] of [[Panama]] won a gold medal.

==Career==
Claudia Poll began swimming in 1979 under coach Francisco Rivas and quickly became one of the best in Central America, winning many regional titles.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

At the [[1996 Atlanta Olympics]] she won the gold medal in the 200 m freestyle event.  The win was the first gold medal for Costa Rica in the Summer Olympic Games.   It was a surprising win because she beat the favorite German [[Franziska van Almsick]].  [[Dagmar Hase]] from Germany won the bronze.

In 1997, she was named by ''[[Swimming World Magazine]]'' as the Female Swimmer of the Year.<ref>[http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/SwimmersOfTheYear.asp  Swimming World Magazine Presents: WORLD SWIMMERS OF THE YEAR]</ref>

At the [[2000 Summer Olympics|Sydney 2000]], Poll continued with her medal run and won two bronze medals. In [[2004 Summer Olympics|Athens 2004]], she just missed out on the 400 m freestyle final, finishing ninth in the heats.

In 2002, she was given a four-year doping ban after a failed test for norandrosterone, a metabolite the steroid [[nandrolone]]. Her ban was later reduced by [[World Aquatics|FINA]] (International Swimming Federation) to two years. Poll claimed that the test and sampling methods were flawed and protested her innocence.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130203104856/http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/5886.asp?q=Claudia-Poll's-Ban-Is-Cut;-she's-Cleared-for-Athens-2004 Claudia Poll's Ban Is Cut; she's Cleared for Athens 2004]. ''Swimming World Magazine'' (2003-09-24). Retrieved on 2012-08-25.</ref>

At the [[Swimming at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games|2006 Central American and Caribbean Games]], she set the [[List of Central American and Caribbean Games records in swimming|Games Records]] in the 200 and 400 freestyles (2:00.19 and 4:15.01), bettering the time her sister [[Silvia Poll|Silvia]] set at the [[1986 Central American and Caribbean Games]].<ref>[http://www.cartagena2006.gov.co/SP/showpage.aspx?d=NAT&n=4,1,1,3,2 Women's 200 free]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and [http://www.cartagena2006.gov.co/SP/showpage.aspx?d=NAT&n=4,1,1,4,1 400 free-prelim]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}/[http://www.cartagena2006.gov.co/SP/showpage.aspx?d=NAT&n=4,1,1,4,2 final]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. 2006 Cartagena. Retrieved 2009-06-21.</ref>

Poll served as a swimming analyst for the U.S. [[Telemundo]] network's Spanish-language coverage of the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] in London, though she and most of the Telemundo broadcast crew performed their duties at the network's studios in [[Hialeah, Florida]], accompanied by video provided by [[Olympic Broadcasting Services]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20130129212852/http://nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/telemundo/pressreleases?pr=contents/press-releases/2012/07/25/telemundomedial1343235428163.xml Telemundo press release, July 25, 2012]</ref>

==Personal life==

Claudia’s parents are both German, but they moved to Nicaragua before starting a family.  Claudia and her sister Silvia were both born in [[Managua]], Nicaragua, but moved shortly after Claudia’s birth in 1972. The family had decided that rising political tensions and the [[1972 Nicaragua earthquake]] meant it would be safer to live in Costa Rica. Claudia is not related to [[Marlene Ahrens]], another Olympic athlete and medalist and another Latin American of German descent.

Claudia graduated in Business Administration from the [[Universidad Internacional de las Américas]], [[San José, Costa Rica|San José]], Costa Rica, in 1998. She had her first child, a daughter named Cecilia, on August 8, 2007. Claudia's older sister, [[Silvia Poll]], won Costa Rica's first Olympic medal, a silver medal, at the [[Costa Rica at the 1988 Summer Olympics|1988 Games]]. As of 2021, Claudia and Silvia are the only Costa Ricans to have won a medal at an Olympics. 

== Honors ==
*Declared "Honor Citizen" by the Costa Rican Congress in 1996 ;
*Costa Rican Sportswoman of the Year in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000;
*Named Best Latin American Athlete in 1995, 1996, and 1997 by the [[Agencia Prensa Latina]]
*Named 1997 World Swimmer of the Year by [[Swimming World Magazine]]<ref>[http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/SwimmersOfTheYear.asp  Swimming World Magazine presents: World Swimmers of the Year]</ref>
*Declared Costa Rica's Athlete of the Century in 1999.<ref>[http://www.claudiapoll.net/entrevista_perfil.htm Entrevista, ''76 kilos de oro'' (Spanish)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041001091736/http://www.claudiapoll.net/entrevista_perfil.htm |date=2004-10-01 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of doping cases in sport]]
*[[World record progression 200 metres freestyle]]
*[[World record progression 400 metres freestyle]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{succession box|before=Incumbent|title=[[World record progression 400 metres freestyle|Women's 400 metre freestyle<br>world record holder (short course)]]|years=April 18, 1997 &ndash; January 26, 2003|after= [[Lindsay Benko]]}}
{{s-ach|aw}}
{{succession box|title=[[Swimming World Swimmers of the Year|World Swimmer of the Year]]|before= [[Penny Heyns]]|after=[[Jenny Thompson]]|years= [[1997 in sports|1997]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 200 m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer World LC Champions 200m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer World SC Champions 200m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer World SC Champions 400m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer Pan Pacific Champions 200m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer Pan Pacific Champions 400m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer CAC Champions 200m Freestyle Women}}
{{Footer CAC Champions 400m Freestyle Women}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poll, Claudia}}
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Costa Rican female freestyle swimmers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Managua]]
[[Category:Olympic swimmers for Costa Rica]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Costa Rica]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Costa Rica]]
[[Category:World record setters in swimming]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Costa Rican sportspeople in doping cases]]
[[Category:Doping cases in swimming]]
[[Category:Costa Rican people of German descent]]
[[Category:Nicaraguan people of German descent]]
[[Category:Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)]]
[[Category:Nicaraguan emigrants to Costa Rica]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in swimming]]
[[Category:Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Costa Rica]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games]]