Christa Luding-Rothenburger

Christa Luding-Rothenburger medal table

Speed skating track cycling
Germany Democratic Republic 1949 German Democratic Republic of Germany Germany
winter Olympics
gold	Sarajevo 1984	500 m
gold	Calgary 1988	1000 m
silver	Calgary 1988	500 m
bronze	Albertville 1992	500 m
Sprint World Championships
gold	Heerenveen 1985	All-around
gold	West Allis 1988	All-around
silver	Karuizawa 1986	All-around
silver	Heerenveen 1989	All-around
bronze	Inzell 1979	All-around
bronze	Helsinki 1983	All-around
bronze	Sainte-Foy 1987	All-around
bronze	Oslo 1992	All-around
Olympic games
silver	Seoul 1988	sprint
UCI track world championships
gold	Colorado Springs 1986	sprint
silver	Vienna 1987	sprint

Christa Luding-Rothenburger (2020)

Christa Luding-Rothenburger , née Christa Rothenburger (born December 4, 1959 in Weißwasser ), is a former GDR speed skater and cyclist who was among the best in the world in both sports in the 1980s . In speed skating, together with the all-rounder Karin Kania (née Enke) and the long-distance specialists Andrea Schöne (Ehrig) and Gabi Zange (Schönbrunn), she completed the enduring track record of the GDR runners and secured their dominance on the short distances, which only began in the late 1980s Years from the AmericanBonnie Blair could be breached. At the same time, Christa Rothenburger was a sprint cyclist on the track for years without national competition and was also able to show international success here. In 1988 she won Olympic precious metal in both winter and summer games within one calendar year. No other athlete has succeeded in this. In 2000, she was voted one of the “100 Dresdeners of the 20th Century” in the daily newspaper “ Dresdner Latest News ”.

Speed skating

Career

Christa Rothenburger's international career began in 1979 with a third place in the Sprint World Championship . After narrowly missing another podium in 1980 , Rothenburger had to be content with modest placings (12th / 500m; 18 / 1000m) at the subsequent Olympic Games . Even at the two Sprint World Championships in 1981 and 1982 , the Dresden woman remained without precious metal. Although she was equal in terms of her sprinting ability and set new world records on both individual routes and in four-way combat as early as 1981, she was initially unable to break out of the shadow of her club mate and serial world champion Karin Kania. This was also evident with Rothenburger's second bronze medal in 1983 when Kania won her third sprint world title.

Christa Rothenburger had her breakthrough at the 1984 Winter Olympics when she not only won the gold medal over 500 meters, but was also able to defeat Karin Kania in a major competition for the first time. A year later, Rothenburger won their first gold at the Sprint World Championship , but in the absence of defending champion Kania, who had become a mother a few weeks earlier. After her return to competitive sport, she restored the old ranking, when she secured the undisputed title at the 1986 World Cup with a new world record over 1000 meters and in the all- around competition. As the dethroned defending champion or all-around world record holder, only second place remained for Rothenburger. In addition, a month later she also lost her 500-meter world record to her long-term rival. At the next edition in 1987 , Rothenburger was again put in its place by Kania, who was able to secure her sixth sprint title. With the US-American Bonnie Blair , the Dresden woman had to admit defeat to another runner, who was to become her toughest competitor in the following years and in the same season with a new 500-meter world record, a possible end to the almost ten years continued East German supremacy on this route.

Meanwhile again in possession of the 500 meter world record, Christa Rothenburger finally succeeded in stepping out of the sporty shadow of Karin Kania in the winter season 1987/88, who intended to end her career after the end of the season. Rothenburger was able to refer her compatriot to silver at the sprint world championship at the beginning of February 1988 and thus celebrate her second world title after 1985. At the subsequent Olympic Games , she also placed new world records over both the 500 and 1000 meter distances, ahead of Kania, although she delivered the best performances of her career in both races and thus, at least over the longer distance, the double victory the GDR made perfect. On the short sprint distance, Rothenburger was denied another Olympic gold medal despite her world best time, as the defending champion was caught by Bonnie Blair, who started third in the Sprint World Championship, by two hundredths of a second and thus lost the record she had set up recently.

At the 1989 World Cup , Christa Luding - starting under this name since her wedding in April 1988 - had to admit defeat to Bonnie Blair again in the fight for the crown of the world's best female sprinter. While the American established herself as the world's best sprinter in the following years and later became the first woman to stay under 39 seconds over 500 meters, Luding's career as a competitive athlete was slowly coming to an end. After a year of absence due to a baby break, in 1991 she was confronted with Monique Garbrecht and Anke Baier , a new generation of sprinters that had to be beaten at national level. Nevertheless, Christa Luding was once again the most successful German runner at both the Sprint World Cup and the Olympic Games in 1992 , where she won bronze once at the end of her career. For this she received the Silver Laurel Leaf from Federal President von Weizsäcker.

Her unique speed skating career, in which Christa Luding-Rothenburger was among the absolute best in the world for 13 years, included numerous medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships as well as 16 World Cup victories. In addition, Luding-Rothenburger set a total of seven world records over 500 and 1000 meters as well as two world records in sprint all-around between 1981 and 1988. Among other things, she broke through the sound barrier of 40 seconds (39.69 s) on March 25, 1983 on the Medeo mountain railway over 500 meters as the first woman in the world. Her record of 1: 17.65 minutes over the 1000 meters, which she set at the 1988 Olympic Games, lasted for almost ten years and was only undercut in the “ folding ice skate era”.

More Achievements

GDR championships - sprint all-around

3 × gold (1981; 1982; 1983)
3 × silver (1978; 1979; 1986)

GDR championships - individual

500 m
- 5 × gold (1980; 1985; 1986; 1988; 1989)
- 1 × silver (1984)
- 1 v bronze (1983)
1000 m
- 4 × silver (1980; 1986; 1988; 1989)
- 2 × bronze (1983; 1984)

German championships - sprint all-around

1 × gold (1992)

German championships - singles

500 m
- 1 × gold (1991)
1000 m
- 1 × gold (1991)

photos

Christa Rothenburger at an earlier competition
Christa Rothenburger during her victory at the International Dynamo Cup in 1982
Christa Rothenburger at the GDR Sprinter All-Around Championship in 1982
Christa Rothenburger 1988