Anja Selbach

Anja Selbach
nation	Germany
birthday	May 20, 1983
place of birth	Berchtesgaden ,  Germany
size	171 cm
Weight	61 kg
job	Sports manager
Career
discipline	skeleton
society	RC Berchtesgaden
National squad	since 2004
status	resigned
End of career	2015
Medal table
Olympic medals 0 × 0 × 1 × World Cup medals 2 × 3 × 0 × EM medals 4 × 1 × 2 × DM medals 5 × 1 × 0 ×
winter Olympics bronze 2010 Vancouver singles  Skeleton World Championships gold 2008 Altenberg singles gold 2008 Altenberg team silver 2011 Königssee singles silver 2011 Königssee team silver 2015 Winterberg team  European Skeleton Championships gold 2007 Königssee singles gold 2008 Cesana singles gold 2010 Igls singles silver 2011 Winterberg singles gold 2012 Altenberg singles bronze 2013 Igls singles bronze 2014 Königssee singles German championships silver 2006 Winterberg singles gold 2007 Königssee singles gold 2008 Altenberg singles gold 2011 Königssee singles gold 2013 Altenberg singles gold 2014 Königssee singles
Placements in the WC / EC / NAC / IC
Skeleton ranking 1st ( 10/11 ), 3rd ( 11/12 ) Debut in the World Cup December 2005 World Cup victories 11 Overall World Cup 1st ( 10/11 ), 2nd ( 12/13 ), 3rd ( 11/12 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  World cup 11 8th 8th
last change: March 16, 2015

Anja Selbach , also Anja Huber Selbach , (born May 20, 1983 as Anja Huber in Berchtesgaden ) is a former German skeleton pilot who started for RC Berchtesgaden .

Career

The qualified sports manager Anja Huber first started toboggan in 1989 , but switched to skeleton in 2003 . After she was considered one of the greatest hopes in the German skeleton sport, she was able to establish herself among the world's best in the course of her career. In the junior division, she was once German champion and third at the world championships. She had her international breakthrough in the 2005/06 season.

After winning the overall European Cup in the 2004/05 season (victories in Königssee and Altenberg as well as second in Innsbruck ) Huber started in the World Cup. In 2005 Huber became the starting skeleton world champion . In the 2005/06 season she reached a second place in Königssee. She finished fifth on her debut in Igls . At the European Championships in 2006 she was fourth; Second behind Kerstin Jürgens at the 2006 German Championships . At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Huber came eighth. There were problems in advance when the Bobsleigh and Sled Association for Germany (BSD) wanted to nominate the then reigning European champion Kerstin Jürgens , although Huber was in seventh place in the decisive qualifying race, the last pre-Olympic World Cup in Altenberg, but her competitor Jürgens only in the ranked tenth. Jürgens had problems at the start, which is why the general secretary of the BSD, Stefan Krauße , nominated Jürgens with the reasoning: “You can't make the Olympics dependent on a start mishap. Jürgens is a candidate for a medal ”. The following day, however, this decision was reversed in Huber's favor.

In the following season she won the last World Cup before the World Cup in Igls before Katie Uhlaender . With the result in her first World Cup appearance of the season, she not only secured a third place on the grid for the BSD, but also a place for herself. Huber also won the last race of the season in Königssee and was eighth overall. At the same time she became European champion in 2007 and was able to win her first international title. In 2007/08 Huber drove her first full World Cup season. The best results were two second places in Cesana Pariol and Winterberg . She finished fifth in the overall standings. In the race in Cesana, she defended her title as European champion and was the first female skeleton pilot to win the title for the second time. Huber also won the German Championships in both 2007 and 2008 . At the Skeleton World Championship in Altenberg in 2008 , she won gold in both the women's singles and the team competition. Huber's debut in the 2008/09 Skeleton World Cup went particularly well . In Winterberg, Altenberg and Königssee, the Bavarian won three of the first four races of the season. She finished fourth in the overall standings.

Huber at the award ceremony at the 2010 Olympic Games.

The 2009/10 Olympic season was a difficult year for Huber. First, she started the World Cup season with a win in Park City , but then got injured and had to sit out two races. After a weaker race in Winterberg, however, she quickly came back to the top of the world. In order to secure a third starting place for the 2010 Winter Olympics for the German women's team , she also took part in two races of the Intercontinental Cup in Calgary . She won both races by superiority and so the German NOK was able to send three starters. In the end, she won another race in Igls and at the same time won the European Skeleton Championship in 2010 . After the nomination for the Olympic Games with three starters was problem-free this time, they were also strong as usual in the race. On February 19, 2010, Huber won bronze at the Olympic Games in Vancouver, behind Amy Williams and Kerstin Szymkowiak . With the second-best running time, she was able to move up from fifth in the decisive fourth run. Huber and Szymkowiaks medals were the first Olympic medals for German skeleton athletes.

For this win, Anja Seelbach (at that time still under the maiden name Anja Huber) received the Silver Laurel Leaf. In the 2010/11 season , she was always on the podium in eight World Cup races, won four races and won the overall standings. She won silver at the 2011 European Skeleton Championships . She won silver twice in singles and with the team at the World Championships in Königssee. In addition, she won her third title at German championships in the same place . The World Cup 2011/12 ended Huber in third place overall behind Shelley Rudman and Marion Thees , after standing on the podium twice. At the same time as her only win of the season, she became European champion in Altenberg in 2012 . At the 2012 World Cup in Lake Placid she was eighth in the individual and fifth in the team competition with Team Germany II.

In the winter of 2012/13 Anja Huber was among the top eight in all nine races of the season, was on the podium four times and finished second behind Marion Thees in the final standings. At the EM 2013 in Igls, she was third at the same time as Olga Potylizyna . At the 2013 World Cup in St. Moritz , she finished 17th in the singles and fourth with the Germany II team. In Altenberg she won her fourth German championship title . In the 2013/14 World Cup , Huber made it onto the podium once and finished fifth in the overall standings. At the European Championships in Königssee she won the bronze medal again, this time at the same time as Sophia Griebel . In addition, she defended her title from the previous year and became German champion for the fifth time in Königssee . At the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi , which was disappointing for the BSD , she was eighth as the best German.

In July 2014 she married David Selbach, the head coach of the German snowboard freestyle team. In the 2014/15 World Cup , she achieved two podium places with second place in Königssee and third place in the last race of the season in Sochi and finished in positions between 7 and 10 in the remaining six races. In the overall standings, she finished fourth. At the subsequent World Cup in Winterberg, she won the silver medal with Team Germany II. After the individual competition, which she finished in 14th place, she ended her career.

From April 2015 Selbach became a trainer for the skeleton youngsters at the BSD base in Berchtesgaden.

Web links

Commons : Anja Selbach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Anja Selbach in the database of the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association
• Anja Selbach in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Profile on the BSD website
• Results at the-sports.org (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Johann Reinhardt: Interview with Anja Huber: "I would also like to successfully compete in the World Cup series before the Olympics" . June 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
2. ↑ Sports report of the Federal Government of September 3, 2010 to the Bundestag - printed matter 17/2880 - pages 68/69 on the awarding of the Silver Laurel Leaf ... to the medal winners of the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2010 ...
3. ↑ Dream wedding among German winter sports enthusiasts . tz . July 21, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
4. ↑ Skeleton: Thank you Anja Selbach - Farewell as an athlete. New start as a trainer for the offspring of skeleton . BSD. April 4, 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved on August 21, 2015.