Marike Steinacker (born 3 April 1992) is a German

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

. She competed in the women's discus throw event at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, placing fourth overall in Paris in 2024.

Career

She won the silver medal in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

at the 2015 University Games in

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

. She is a member of TSV Bayer 04's track and field department in

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...

, and threw a new personal best distance of 63.24 metres whilst competing in May 2019. Steinacker threw the Olympic qualifying standard in May 2021 at the Halle Throwing Days event, managing a new personal best of 64.03 metres. She subsequently competed in the women's discus throw event at the delayed

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan in August 2021, playing eighth overall. She would go on to throw a new personal best of 64.55m in 2022. She threw the new Olympic standard in May 2024, whilst competing in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

, where she managed a distance of 67.31 metres. This distance was also a TSV Bayer 04 club distance, the previous of which had been held since 1972 by

Liesel Westermann Lieselotte "Liesel" Westermann-Krieg (born Westermann on 2 November 1944; ) is a retired German discus thrower. She held the world record from 5 November 1967 to 12 August 1971, with a two-month break in 1968 and competed at two Olympic Games. ...

, with 64.96m. She went into the summer months ranked as the number one in Europe and fourth in the world. She had a disappointing twelfth place finish at the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It was the third time Italy staged this sporting event after the inaugural 1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 edition in T ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy in June 2024. Later that month she finished runner-up at the German Athletics Championships. She competed at the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, where she qualified for the final before throwing 65.37 metres to place fourth overall. She finished in place third at the 2025 European Throwing Cup in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

, Cyprus with a throw of 61.57 metres, in March 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinacker, Marike 1992 births Living people People from Wermelskirchen German female discus throwers Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Germany Athletes from Cologne (region) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for Germany Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics 21st-century German sportswomen