Erika Salumäe

Erika Salumäe 1992

Erika Salumäe 2009

Erika Salumäe ( Russian Эрика Акселевна Салумяэ , transcribed Erika Akselewna Salumjae; born June 11, 1962 in Pärnu , Estonian SSR ) is a former Estonian cyclist who competed internationally during the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union. She was the first Olympic champion in Estonia since regaining sovereignty in 1991.

Erika Salumäe won the gold medal in the women's track bike sprint at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul , still as a starter for the USSR . In the final she beat the German Christa Rothenburger . She was able to repeat this success at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona under adverse conditions. After Estonia's breakaway from the Soviet Union in 1991, Salumäe was cut off from previous sponsorship of sport. Therefore, she had to travel to Barcelona without her own material. Her victory came with a borrowed racing bike from the Australian team. Salumäe won the first gold medal at the Olympic Games for the young Estonian nation. In 1996 she took part in the Olympic Games for a third time and was sixth in the sprint.

Between 1981 and 1989 Salumäe won ten gold medals, three silver medals and three bronze medals at world championships. At the Summer Universiade in 1983 she won gold and in 1985, 1987 and 1988 she was able to win the Soviet championship title. In the course of her career, Erika Salumäe also set 15 world records. She was in 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1996 Sportswoman of the Year in the Estonian SSR and Estonia and in 2001 she received the Order of the Estonian Red Cross in the 1st category. She is also the President of the Estonian School Sports Union.

In November 2013, the Estonian media reported that Erika Salumäe, who now lives in Dénia , Spain , had her two gold medals, her bike and other souvenirs from her sports career auctioned in London . She needed the proceeds of the auction of around 95,000 euros for a back operation. The Estonian Olympic Committee would have liked to buy back the objects for the Estonian Sports Museum, but the funds were lacking.

Web links

• Erika Salumäe in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Sports achievements and photo (Estonian)
• Erika Salumäe in the Большая олимпийская энциклопедия ( Memento from December 21, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (Great Olympic Encyclopedia, Russian)
• Portrait at www.velorider.ru (Russian, with pictures)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bearers of decorations - Erika Salumäe ( Estonian ) www.president.ee. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
2. ↑ Erika Pilt: Erika Salumäe valiti Eesti Koolispordi Liidu presidendiks tagasi ( English / Estonian ) 2009. Accessed December 24, 2010.
3. ↑ Estonian Olympic champion sells medals. Rheinische Post, November 4, 2013, accessed on November 7, 2013 . 
4. ↑ Olympic Committee President Vies to Buy Back Gold Medals. Estonian Public Broadcasting, November 1, 2013, accessed November 7, 2013 .