Jill Sterkel is a swimmer who has competed for the United States. She competed at the 1976, 1984, and 1988 Summer Olympic Games. She was selected on the U.S. swimming team for Moscow 1980 but the American-led boycott denied her the opportunity to participate.
Sterkel started her Olympic career with a gold medal, as a 14-year-old member of the U.S. women's team, in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay at Montreal 1976, breaking a new world record and prevailing over the East Germans by nearly a full second. On the individual side, she fared poorly in her freestyle races, placing seventh in the 100 and barely advancing out of the prelims in the 200.
When Los Angeles hosted the Games eight years later, Sterkel contributed to the American women's gold-medal triumph in the same relay race by swimming through the second leg with a continental record in the heats.
At Seoul 1988, Sterkel swam again in the heats of the 4x100 metres freestyle relay before witnessing her other teammates secure a podium spot with a bronze over their Chinese rivals by 0.44 seconds in the final. She closed out her Olympic career by tying for the bronze with Katrin Meißner in the 50 metres freestyle.
Olympic Results[]
| Year | Event | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Women's 100m freestyle | 7th |
| Women's 200m freestyle | 9th | |
| Women's 4x100m freestyle relay | 
| |
| 1984 | Women's 4x100m freestyle relay |
|
| 1988 | Women's 50m freestyle | 
|
| Women's 4x100m freestyle relay |
|
1976[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres freestyle | Heats | 57.41 | |
| Final | 57.06 | ||
| 200 metres freestyle | Heats | 2:03.94 | |
| Final | Did not advance | ||
| 4x100 metres freestyle relay | Heats | 3:50.27 (57.31 split) |
OR |
| Final | 3:44.82 (55.78 split) |
WR | |
1984[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4x100 metres freestyle relay | Heats | 3:43.56 (55.42 split) |
AR |
| Final | 3:43.43 (Reserve) |
AR |
1988[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 50 metres freestyle | Heats | 26.02 |
| A Final | 25.71 | |
| 4x100 metres freestyle relay | Heats | 3:45.10 (56.07 split) |
| Final | 3:44.25 (Reserve) |