Stefan Lindemann (born 30 September 1980) is a German retired

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He is the 2004 World bronze medalist, 2005 European bronze medalist, 2000 World Junior champion, and a seven-time (2000, 2002, 2004–2007, 2010) German national champion.

Career

Stefan Lindeman started skating at age 4 in Erfurt at the local skating club. At age 12 he wanted to play ice hockey, but his mother kept him in figure skating. His coach was Ilona Schindler. After finishing his school he was sponsored by the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

(German Army). In 1995, at age 14, Lindemann made his first successful appearance in the international figure skating scene by placing fourth at the junior world championships. In 1996 he placed 12th at the German nationals. He placed fourth in the same event in 1997, second in 1999, and first in 2000, becoming the German champion. In 2000, he won the World Junior Championships. This was the first such title for the German Figure Skating Organisation,

Deutsche Eislauf-Union The German Ice Skating Union (, DEU) is the national amateur association for figure skating and ice dancing in Germany. The various German ice sports associations constitute the membership of the DEU; individuals cannot become members. The Deutsch ...

. At the 2000 Sparkassen Cup, Lindemann injured his knee when he fell on a triple Axel in the short program. He tore a

ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...

in his right

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

and pulled a muscle in his talocalcanean joint. In 2004, Lindemann became German champion and won the bronze medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

. In 2005, he won the bronze medal at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. At Worlds, he missed all his jumps in the short program but pulled up to 12th after a strong performance in the free program. He is the most successful German figure skater in the men's single event since

Norbert Schramm Norbert Schramm (born April 7, 1960) is a German former competitive figure skater. He is a two-time European champion, a two-time World silver medalist, and a three-time German national champion. Skating career Schramm began skating at age six ...

, who won silver in both 1982 and 1983 at the World championships. Lindemann withdrew from the 2006-2007 Grand Prix series due to injury. He returned to skating in 2009 and won the German title. He then placed 9th at the 2010 European Championship and represented Germany at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. In the Olympics he scored 68.50 in the short program, placing 17th. In the long program he received a score of 103.48, placing 23rd in the long program. Overall he received 171.98. Overall results he placed 22nd at the

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

2010 Olympics.Olympic profile
/ref> Lindemann retired from competitive skating right after the Olympics in 2010. He has become a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, working in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and remains in the German army.

Programs

Competitive highlights

1997–2010

1993–1997

References

External links

*
Official site

Official fansite at AbsoluteSkating
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindemann, Stefan 1980 births Living people German male single skaters Figure skaters at the 2006 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Germany Sportspeople from Erfurt Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics World Figure Skating Championships medalists European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists 21st-century German sportsmen