Gabi Zange

Gabi Zange
nation	German Democratic Republic
birthday	June 1, 1961
place of birth	Crimmitschau, GDR
Career
society	SC Karl-Marx-Stadt
status	resigned
End of career	November 26, 1988
Medal table
Olympic medals 0 × 0 × 3 × World Cup medals 0 × 1 × 1 ×
winter Olympics bronze 1984 Sarajevo 3000 m bronze 1988 Calgary 3000 m bronze 1988 Calgary 5000 m  All around world championships silver 1985 Sarajevo All-around bronze 1984 Deventer All-around

Gabi Zange , b. Schönbrunn (born June 1, 1961 in Crimmitschau , GDR ), is a German former speed skater who - starting for the GDR - was among the world's best on long distances over 3000 and 5000 meters in the 1980s . She won three bronze medals at the Olympic Winter Games: in 1984 in the 3000 meter run (under her maiden name Gabi Schönbrunn) and in 1988 in both the 3000 and 5000 meter run.

Life

The 8th of the Junior World Championships in 1980 entered the international top with a world record in the 3,000-meter run (4: 21.70 min.), Achieved in 1981 on the Medeo, the world's fastest open-air track near Alma-Ata ( Kazakhstan , then USSR ) , as well as the European Championship victory on this route. In the further course of her sports career she had to come to terms with the dominance of the best all-round runner Karin Enke and the best long distance specialist Andrea Schöne . In their absence, she became European champion in 1984 - an opportunity that she enjoyed with two world records (over 5000 m and in four-way combat). In her career she has achieved a total of 15 medal ranks at international highlights. She set four world records in long distances and in all-around competitions, her last one in December 1987 in the 3000 meter run (4: 16.76 min.) At the World Cup race in Calgary , where she beat Karin Enke and Andrea Ehrig (Schöne) on the following Places referred. Together with the two of them, she officially announced her resignation after the 1987/88 season.

Gabi Zange started for the SC Karl-Marx-Stadt (successor club: Speed ​​Skating Club Chemnitz ) and trained with Alfred Unterdörfel and the successful Dresden coach Rainer Mund . After her sports career, she became a physiotherapist.

At the end of her sporting career, she was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver in 1988 .

More Achievements

European championships - all-around

• 1 × Gold (1984)
• 1 × bronze (1981)

GDR championships - all-around

• 2 × silver (1981; 1983)
• 1 × bronze (1982)

GDR championships - individual

• 1500 m
  • 1 × Gold (1985)
  • 2 × bronze (1983; 1986)
• 3000 m
  • 2 × silver (1980; 1983)
  • 1 × bronze (1986)
• 5000 m
  • 2 × silver (1985; 1986)
  • 1 × bronze (1983)

photos

Gabi Zange (second from left or completely left) together with Andrea Ehrig , Karin Kania and Sabine Brehm at their official farewells from competitive sport on the sidelines of the 1988 World Cup in Berlin

Web links

• Statistics at speed skating news
• Gabi Zange in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Neues Deutschland , April 26, 1988, p. 4