Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann

Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (born 7 September 1966) is a former German speed skater and the most successful speed skater of all time. Born as Gunda Kleemann, she changed her name to Gunda Niemann after her marriage in 1991 to judoka Detlev Niemann. After their divorce in 1995, she kept the name Niemann. She then changed her name to Niemann-Stirnemann after marrying her longtime Swiss manager Oliver Stirnemann on 11 July 1997.

Kleemann was born in Sondershausen, East Germany, but has lived in Erfurt for most of her life. The speed skating oval in Erfurt (the Gunda-Niemann-Stirnemann-Halle) was named after her. Before the German reunification in 1990, she skated for East Germany.

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 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. 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 in Turin, but a lingering back injury – which she suffered from since the 2004/2005 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.