Anni Friesinger-Postma

Anni Friesinger-Postma

Anni Friesinger at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Personal information
Nationality German
Born (1977-01-11) 11 January 1977
Bad Reichenhall, Germany
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 12 in)
Weight 64 kg (141 lb)
Spouse(s) Ids Postma (2009)
Sport
Country Germany
Sport Speed skating
Turned pro 1993
Coached by Gianni Romme
Retired 2010

Anna ("Anni") Christine Friesinger-Postma (born 11 January 1977) is a German former speed skater. Her father Georg Friesinger, of Germany, and mother Janina ("Jana") Korowicka, of Poland, were both skaters; Jana was on the Polish team at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Her brother Jan is also a speed skater. Her sister Agnes is a former speed skater. In July 2010, Friesinger retired from her active sports career when she had to be treated for severe cartilage damage in her right knee joint.[1]

On 11 August 2009 Friesinger married former Dutch skater Ids Postma, her long-term boyfriend, at Schloss Mirabell. The celebration took place at Schloss Aigen.[2] As of November 2013,[3] Friesinger lives in Salzburg, Austria, and is planning to move to the Netherlands to live with Postma on his farm in Dearsum. In August 2011 she gave birth to a daughter.[4] In May 2014, her second daughter was born.

Sports merits

Championships

Friesinger has won five Olympic medals; gold at the 1500 m in the 2002 Winter Olympics and the team pursuit in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics as well as bronze at the 3000 m in the 1998 Winter Olympics and the 1000 m in the 2006 Winter Olympics. She managed to qualify for the German speed skating team in five events at the 2006 Winter Olympics: the team pursuit and the individual races at 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, and 5000 meters. However, she failed to win gold in any individual events. In the team pursuit semifinal against the United States at the 2010 Olympics, she fell behind her team members and ended up sliding across the finish line on her belly, but Germany still succeeded in advancing to the final.[5]

As well as being a five-time European Allround Champion and three time, World Allround Champion, Friesinger has won numerous titles in the World Single Distance Championships. Although she originally specialized in the longer distances, she also won the World Sprint Championships in 2007. In this, Friesinger became the fifth skater in history to be a World Champion in both Allround and Sprint disciplines (along with Sylvia Burka, CAN (1976 and 1977); Eric Heiden, U.S. (1977 and 1977); Natalya Petrusyova, URS (1980 and 1982); and Karin Kania-Enke, GDR (1980 and 1982)).

Records

Friesinger has set the world record at the 1500 m distance three times during her career, but the record has since been superseded by Canadian competitor Cindy Klassen.

Personal records
Distance Time (min:sec.dec) Event Place Date
500 m 38.09 2nd World Cup meet 200506 Salt Lake City – Kearns 18 November 2005
1000 m 1:13.49 2nd World Cup meet 200708 Calgary 18 November 2007
1500 m 1:53.19 2nd World Cup meet 200506 Salt Lake City – Kearns 20 November 2005
3000 m 3:58.52  1st World Cup meet 200506 Calgary 12 November 2005
5000 m 6:58.39 2002 Winter Olympics Salt Lake City – Kearns 23 February 2002

Source: SpeedskatingResults.com[6]

World records

EventTimeDateVenue
1500 m1:56.9529 March 1998Canada Calgary
1500 m1:54.384 March 2001Canada Calgary
1500 m1:54.0220 February 2002United States Salt Lake City
1500 m1:53.226 November 2005Canada Calgary

Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com[7]

Non-sport activities

Friesinger has done some modeling work as a sideline, and she has appeared as a swimsuit model in several publications. She is also known for her particularly powerful thighs,[8] as befits a champion speed skater.

Autobiography

References

  1. "Eisschnelllauf-Star beendet Karriere: Anni Friesinger hört auf [Speed skating star ends her career: Anni Friesinger quits]". Bild-Zeitung (in German). 14 July 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  2. Seit heute heißt Anni Friesinger auch Postma In: Die Welt dated 11 August 2009.
  3. "Anni Friesinger opnieuw zwanger" (in Dutch). RTL Nederland. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  4. "Eisschnellläuferin Anni Friesinger-Postma bekommt Baby in Meppen". 14 August 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  5. "With a belly flop, German skater ends with gold", by RAF CASERT, The Associated Press, Sunday, 28 February 2010.
  6. "Anni Friesinger". SpeedskatingResults.com. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  7. "Anni Friesinger-Postma". SpeedSkatingStats.com. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  8. Radio 538 In Zwoele Zomernachten: Ids Postma in a radio interview, July 2008.

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Netherlands Jochem Uytdehaage
Oscar Mathisen Award
2003
Succeeded by
United States Chad Hedrick
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