Astrid Kumbernuss began in Waren (Müritz) with the then BSG Lokomotive Waren / Rethwisch with athletics and was delegated to SC Neubrandenburg in 1982. At the beginning of her career she was also active as a discus thrower , where her greatest success was the silver medal at the Junior World Championships in 1988 . Astrid Kumbernuss won her first world title in the shot put in Gothenburg in 1995 . She was 1.18 meters in front of the runner-up Huang Zhihong . That is the greatest advantage ever achieved in the Olympic Games or World Championships. She celebrated her greatest sporting success by winning the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In 1995 and 1996 Astrid Kumbernuss seemed unbeatable, she won 51 competitions in a row. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the shot put. For this success she received the silver laurel leaf from Federal President Johannes Rau . She won further gold medals at the 1997 World Championships in Athens and at the 1999 World Championships in Seville . In 1997 she was voted German athlete of the year and - as the only German athlete to date (as of 2012) - was voted Europe's athlete of the year . On September 3, 2005, she announced her retirement from competitive sports. She started for SC Neubrandenburg .
Astrid Kumbernuss was 1.86 m tall and weighed 90 kg. In 1998 she became the mother of a son and lives in Neustrelitz . The trained retail saleswoman has been working for Barmer GEK since the end of her career in 2005 .
Further successes in the shot put
1989 Junior European Champion
1992 German indoor champion, third place in the European indoor championships
1993 third place German championships, sixth place world championships
1994 German indoor champion, European indoor champion, third place in German championships
1995 German champion, European Cup winner
1996 German champion , German indoor champion, European indoor champion, European cup winner
1997 German Champion, Grand Prix overall winner, European Cup winner, Sportswoman of the year
2003 German indoor champion, European cup winner, German champion
2004 German champion
literature
Klaus Amrhein: Biographical manual on the history of German athletics 1898-2005. 2 volumes. Darmstadt 2005 (published by Deutsche Leichtathletik Promotion- und Projektgesellschaft )
^ Winner list of the 2000 Olympic Games, athletics, women, shot put
↑ NTV of February 2, 2001: ... Federal President Rau ... has awarded the medal winners of the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games the Silver Laurel Leaf.