Anni Friesinger-Postma

Anna ("Anni") Christine Friesinger-Postma (born 11 January 1977 in Bad Reichenhall) is a German speed skater. Her father Georg Friesinger, of Germany, and mother Janina ("Jana") Korowicka, of Poland, were both skaters; Jana was on the Polish team at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Anni's brother Jan is a speed skater, too. Her sister Agnes is a former speed skater.

On 11 August 2009 Friesinger married former Dutch skater Ids Postma, her long-term boyfriend, at Schloss Mirabell. The celebration took place at Schloss Aigen.^[1] Friesinger currently lives in Salzburg, Austria, and is planning to move to the Netherlands to live with Postma on his farm. In August 2011 she gave birth to a daughter. ^[2]

Sports merits

Championships

Anni Friesinger has won five Olympic medals; gold at the 1500 m in the 2002 Winter Olympics and the team pursuit in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics as well as bronze at the 3000 m in the 1998 Winter Olympics and the 1000 m in the 2006 Winter Olympics. She managed to qualify for the German speed skating team in five events at the 2006 Winter Olympics: the team pursuit and the individual races at 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, and 5000 meters. However, she failed to win gold in any individual events. In the team pursuit semifinal against the United States at the 2010 Olympics, she fell behind her team members and ended up sliding across the finish line on her belly, but Germany still succeeded in advancing to the final.^[3]

As well as being a five-time European Allround Champion and three time, World Allround Champion, Anni Friesinger has won numerous titles in the World Single Distance Championships. Although she originally specialized in the longer distances, she also won the World Sprint Championships in 2007. In this, Friesinger became the fifth skater in history to be a World Champion in both Allround and Sprint disciplines (along with Sylvia Burka, CAN (1976 and 1977); Eric Heiden, U.S. (1977 and 1977); Natalya Petrusyova, URS (1980 and 1982); and Karin Kania-Enke, GDR (1980 and 1982)).

Records

Friesinger has set the world record at the 1500 m distance three times during her career, but the record has since been superseded by Canadian competitor Cindy Klassen. The Olympic record, however—1:54.02—still belongs to Friesinger, and was set 20 February 2002 during her winning run at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Non-sport activities

Anni Friesinger has done some modeling work as a sideline, and she has appeared as a swimsuit model in several publications and in less than that in the wide-circulation German magazine Stern. Anni is also known for her particularly powerful thighs,^[4] as befits a champion speed skater. She is a physically attractive woman, and is somewhat of a sex symbol. Hence, she has acquired the humorous nickname of "Super Sexy Anni".

Autobiography

• Mein Leben, mein Sport, meine besten Fitness-Tipps ("My Life, My Sport, My Best Fitness Tips"). March 2004, Goldmann. ISBN 3-442-39059-1 (German)

References

External links

• Anni Friesinger's official website (German) and (Dutch)
• Anni Friesinger biography and result listings – At SkateResults.com
• Anni Friesinger Fan Site – At SkateLog.com, edited by Kathie Fry
• Photos of Anni Friesinger – At Lars Hagen's DESG Photo website