Sonja Schöber
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Germany | ||||||||||||
| Born |
9 July 1985 Hörde, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke, medley | ||||||||||||
| Club | SG Dortmund | ||||||||||||
| Coach | Volker Höltke | ||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=icon}
Sonja Schöber (born July 9, 1985 in Hörde, Nordrhein-Westfalen) is a German swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke and individual medley events.[1] Schober won a bronze medal, as a member of the German swimming team, at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand with a final time of 3:42.68.[2] Schober is a member of the Dortmund Sport Community Club (German: Startgemeinschaft Dortmund) in Dortmund, and is coached and trained by Volker Höltke.
Schober qualified for two swimming events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by clearing FINA A-standard entry times of 1:08.17 (100 m breaststroke) and 2:14.48 (200 m individual medley) from the German Olympic trials in Berlin.[3][4] On the second night of the Games, Schober challenged seven other swimmers in a top seeded heat of the 100 m breaststroke, including world record holder Leisel Jones of Australia, and former Olympic champion Megan Jendrick of the United States. Schober finished dead-last in her heat and thirty-sixth overall with a time of 1:11.36, more than five seconds behind Jones, who broke an Olympic record.[5] In the 200 m individual medley, Schober repeated her luck on the same heat, as she finished dead-last again by six seconds behind Canada's Erica Morningstar in 2:20.18. Schober failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed thirty-fourth overall in the preliminary heats. Her Olympic time in the medley was 2.28 seconds behind her fellow swimmer Katharina Schiller.[6]
Doping allegations
On November 19, 2009, Schöber was unable to compete at the Berlin meet of the FINA World Cup Circuit, and thereby missed out the German national championships. She was placed under investigation on a positive test for abnormal levels of testosterone. According to her representatives, she had medically documented these abnormal levels in her adolescent stage, and her positive test might be the cause of recent weight loss. She also claimed that there might have been a case of contaminated medical supplements.[7] Few months later, Schöber received a two-year suspension by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and an arbitration panel in Kessel, after she was tested positive for the suspected use of doping, and for irregular levels of testosterone.[8]
References
- ↑ "Sonja Schöber". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ↑ "World University Games: First Night of Action at the World University Games Presents World-Class Performances". Swimming World Magazine. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ "German Olympic Trials: Two European Records Tumble During Second Night". Swimming World Magazine. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ↑ "German Olympic Trials: Christian Kubusch Downs 800 Free National Record". Swimming World Magazine. 20 April 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ↑ "Women's 100m Breaststroke Heat 4". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ↑ "Women's 200m Individual Medley Heat 5". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ↑ "Sonja Schober Under Investigation for Positive Testosterone Test". Swimming World Magazine. 19 November 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
- ↑ "Schöber Among Latest Doping Cases". Swim News. 30 April 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2012.