Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (née Kleemann, born 7 September 1966) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

former

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. She is a three-time Olympic gold medallist, winning the 3000 metres in 1992 and 1998 and the 5000 metres in 1992. She won a total of eight Olympic medals.

Personal life

Born as Gunda Kleemann in

Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 i ...

, Bezirk Erfurt,

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, she has lived in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits in ...

for most of her life. She changed her name to Gunda Niemann after her marriage in 1991 to

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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

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manager Oliver Stirnemann on 11 July 1997. The speed skating oval in Erfurt, the Gunda-Niemann-Stirnemann-Halle, was named after her. Before the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990, she skated for East Germany.

Career

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 1994. She has a record number of 98

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

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 A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizat ...

. For her performances, she received the

Oscar Mathisen Award Since 1959, the Oscar Mathisen Award (also known as the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Award, the Oscar Mathisen Memorial Trophy, and sometimes the Skating Oscar) is awarded annually for outstanding speed skating performance of the season. The award was in ...

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 The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second ...

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, but a lingering back injury – which she suffered from since the 2004–05 season – made her quit. At the end of October 2005, a few days before the German Championships, she announced her retirement. Except for one day in March 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. She skated in Olympic, World, World Cup, European and national championships to 215 medals, thereof 163 gold medals.

World records

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

: Note that the 10000 m was suspended as a world record event at the 1953 ISU Congress.

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

Biography

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

External links

Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann at SkateResults.comGunda Niemann-Stirnemann at SpeedSkatingNews
(in German)
Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann's personal site
(in German)
Photos of Gunda Niemann-StirnemannGunda Niemann-Stirnemann at Olympic.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niemann-Stirnemann, Gunda 1966 births Living people People from Sondershausen German female speed skaters Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic speed skaters of East Germany Olympic speed skaters of Germany Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Olympic medalists in speed skating Olympic gold medalists for Germany Olympic silver medalists for Germany Olympic bronze medalists for Germany World record setters in speed skating Sportspeople from Thuringia World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists