Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann

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Olympic medal record
Women’s Speed Skating
Silver 1992 Albertville 1,500 m
Gold 1992 Albertville 3,000 m
Gold 1992 Albertville 5,000 m
Bronze 1994 Lillehammer 1,500 m
Silver 1994 Lillehammer 5,000 m
Silver 1998 Nagano 1,500 m
Gold 1998 Nagano 3,000 m
Silver 1998 Nagano 5,000 m

Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (born 7 September 1966 in Sondershausen, East Germany) is a former speed skater, one of the most successful speed skaters in history. Born as Gunda Kleemann, she changed her name to Gunda Niemann after her marriage in 1991 to judoka Detlev Niemann. After their divorce in 1995, she kept the name Niemann. She then changed her name to Niemann-Stirnemann after marrying her long-time Swiss manager Oliver Stirnemann on 11 July 1997.

Gunda Kleemann was born in Sondershausen, but has lived in Erfurt for most of her life. The speed skating oval in Erfurt (the Gunda-Niemann-Stirnemann-Halle) was named after her. Before the German reunification in 1990, she skated for East Germany.

Niemann-Stirnemann dominated women's speed skating for several years, especially on the longer distances. She has competed in four Olympics, from 1988 to 1998, and won eight Olympic medals (3 gold, 4 silver, and 1 bronze). In the nine years from 1991 to 1999, she won the World Allround Championships every year except one (1994). She has a record number of 98 World Cup single distance victories and has won 19 overall World Cup titles. She was European Allround Champion 8 times. Over the course of her career, she set 18 world records. For her performances, she received the Oscar Mathisen Award three times: in 1995, 1996, and 1997.

Niemann-Stirnemann left speed skating in 2001 to give birth to a daughter, but later returned to competition. She planned to make one last comeback and participate in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, but a lingering back injury – which she suffered from since the 2004/2005 season – made her quit. At the end of October of 2005, a few days before the German Championships, she announced her retirement.

Except for one day in March of 1998, Niemann-Stirnemann was number one in the Adelskalender, the all-time allround speed skating ranking, from 24 January 1993 until 2 March 2001 – a total of 2,958 days.

Contents

[edit] Autobiography

  • Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann: Ich Will. Traumkarriere mit Tränen und Triumphen (2000). Das Neue Berlin.

[edit] World records

Over the course of her career, Niemann-Stirnemann skated 18 world records:

Distance Result Date Location
3,000 m 4:10.80 9 December 1990 Calgary
5,000 m 7:13.29 6 December 1993 Hamar
Small combination 167.282 9 January 1994 Hamar
3,000 m 4:09.32 25 March 1994 Calgary
5,000 m 7:03.26 26 March 1994 Calgary
Small combination 165.708 16 February 1997 Nagano
3,000 m 4:07.80 7 December 1997 Heerenveen
3,000 m 4:05.08 14 March 1998 Heerenveen
Small combination 163.020 15 March 1998 Heerenveen
3,000 m 4:01.67 27 March 1998 Calgary
5,000 m 6:58.63 28 March 1998 Calgary
5,000 m 6:57.24 7 February 1999 Hamar
Small combination 161.479 7 February 1999 Hamar
5,000 m 6:56.84 16 January 2000 Hamar
3,000 m 4:00.51 30 January 2000 Calgary
5,000 m 6:55.34 25 November 2000 Heerenveen
3,000 m 4:00.26 17 February 2001 Hamar
5,000 m 6:52.44 10 March 2001 Salt Lake City

[edit] Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the last column (WR) lists the official world records on the dates that Niemann-Stirnemann skated her personal records.

Distance Result Date Location WR
500 m 40.34 6 February 1999 Hamar 37.55
1,000 m 1:20.57 13 November 2000 Berlin 1:14.61
1,500 m 1:55.62 4 March 2001 Calgary 1:55.50
3,000 m 4:00.26 17 February 2001 Hamar 4:00.51
5,000 m 6:52.44 10 March 2001 Salt Lake City 6:55.34
10,000 m 14:22.60 27 March 1994 Calgary none
Small combination 161.479 7 February 1999 Hamar 163.020
Mini combination 169.385 6 February 1994 Baselga di Pinè 166.682
Sprint combination 165.255 17 January 1999 Collalbo 151.690

Note that the 10,000 m was suspended as a world record event at the 1953 ISU Congress.

Niemann-Stirnemann has an Adelskalender score of 160.167 points. Her highest ranking on the Adelskalender was a 1st place.

[edit] External links and references


Olympic champions in women's 3000 m speed skating
1960: Lidia Skoblikova | 1964: Lidia Skoblikova | 1968: Ans Schut | 1972: Stien Baas-Kaiser | 1976: Tatyana Averina | 1980: Bjørg Eva Jensen | 1984: Andrea Schöne | 1988: Yvonne van Gennip | 1992: Gunda Niemann | 1994: Svetlana Bazhanova | 1998: Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann | 2002: Claudia Pechstein | 2006: Ireen Wüst 


Olympic champions in women's 5000 m speed skating
1988: Yvonne van Gennip | 1992: Gunda Niemann | 1994: Claudia Pechstein | 1998: Claudia Pechstein | 2002: Claudia Pechstein | 2006: Clara Hughes 



Leaders of the Adelskalender women

Natalya Petruseva - Andrea Ehrig-Mitscherlich - Karin Enke - Gabi Zange-Schönbrunn - Gunda Niemann - Claudia Pechstein - Anni Friesinger - Cindy Klassen


Preceded by:
Johann Olav Koss		 Oscar Mathisen Award
1995–1997		 Succeeded by:
Ådne Søndrål


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