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

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

former

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

. 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, Bezirk Erfurt,

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, she has lived in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

for most of her life. Before

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

in 1990, she skated for East Germany. She changed her name to Gunda Niemann after her marriage in 1991 to

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

Detlev Niemann. After their divorce in 1995, she kept the name Niemann. She changed her name to Niemann-Stirnemann after marrying her

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

long-time manager, Oliver Stirnemann, on 11 July 1997. Their daughter is also a competitive speed skater. The speed skating oval in Erfurt, the Gunda-Niemann-Stirnemann-Halle, was named after her.

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 name is ...

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 organizatio ...

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

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, 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.

References

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 for East Germany East German female speed skaters Olympic speed skaters for 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 Speed skaters from Thuringia World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists