Nicola Spirig-Hug

0 Nicola Spirig Hug
Nicola Spirig at the sponsorship event “rendez-vous” in the Haus des Sports, Ittigen (2012)
Personal information
Date of birth	7th February 1982 (age 38)
place of birth	Bülach, Switzerland
Nickname	Nic, Swiss Miss
Size	166 cm
Weight	53 kg
societies
Current	Impulse Triathlon Club Bülach, Limmat Swimming Club , Athletics Club Zurich (LCZ)
successes
1999	Junior European Champion ETU Triathlon
2001	Junior world champion ITU triathlon
2003	U23 world champion ITU Duathlon
2009-2018	6 × European Champion ETU Triathlon
2009	Swiss champion 5000 meter run
2010, 2016, 2018	3 × Swiss champion triathlon sprint distance
2012	Olympic Games winner
2014	Ironman winner
2016	2nd place Olympic Games
status
maternity

Nicola Spirig Hug (* 7. February 1982 in Bulach as Nicola Spirig ) is a Swiss triathlete and four-time Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016).

Her greatest successes so far are the Olympic victory in 2012 , six European championships (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018) as well as one world and one European championship among the juniors. There is also a U-23 world title in the duathlon (2003). Spirig Hug is multiple Swiss Duathlon and Triathlon champion and she is included in the list of Swiss women triathletes on the Ironman distance .

Career

Nicola Spirig grew up in a sporty family - her parents Ursula and Josef Spirig were both active as physical education teachers and she was trained by her father for 15 years. Spirig competed in her first school triathlon at the age of 10 in 1992, but was initially successful as a junior at national level in athletics . So she became the Swiss junior champion in the 5000 meter run and cross-country run .

At the Junior European Championships in 1999 and 2000 in cross-country she came second. During the same period, she also competed in duathlons. In this discipline she was once junior world champion, junior European champion and U-23 world champion.

Junior world champion triathlon 2001

Spirig was also junior world champion in 2001 in the triathlon. Due to her achievements so far, she received the award for best newcomer in 2001 in the context of the choice of athlete of the year . Also in the U-23 category she was among the best in the world (twice third in world championships, once second in European championships).

2004 Olympic Games

She took part in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and came in 19th place (1.5 km swimming, 40 km cycling and 10 km running).

The success of the elite athletes began in 2007, when Spirig won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Copenhagen . In the same year she won a triathlon world cup race (in Eilat ) and in a race in the Ironman 70.3 category (in Rapperswil ) for the first time. In 2008 the second World Cup victory followed in Kitzbühel .

European triathlon champion short distance 2009

In 2009 she became European triathlon champion on the short distance. She successfully defended this title in Ireland in 2010. In 2009 she was also the Swiss champion in the 5000 meter run and in 2010 she was also runner-up in the triathlon short distance.

Nicola Spirig before the start of the Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne , 2011

Spirig was appointed a member of the “Gold Group” by the International Triathlon Union (ITU) for the 2011 season - the ten best women and men from previous years represent the ITU in public and secure their national associations for each of the seven races of the ITU World Championship Series an additional starting place.

Olympic Games 2012 winner

Nicola Spirig was a member of the Swiss Triathlon Team London 2012 . In April 2012 she won her third title at the European Triathlon Championships in Israel. In May she became Swiss duathlon champion. She was also able to qualify for a place at the Olympic Games for the third time in June 2012 and started for Switzerland in London together with Daniela Ryf , Sven Riederer and Ruedi Wild . After an exciting final sprint, she won the gold medal in front of the Swede Lisa Nordén , who crossed the finish line at the same time . Twelve years after Brigitte McMahon's success, she won the second gold medal in the triathlon for Switzerland.

On April 6, 2014, she beat the limit for the 2014 European Athletics Championships at the Zurich Marathon with her time (2:42:53 h) . In June she became European champion in the short distance triathlon for the fourth time in Kitzbühel. In November she started the Ironman distance in Mexico for the first time (3.86 km swimming, 180.2 km cycling and 42.195 km running) and was able to win the race.

Nicola Spirig-Hug next to the eventual winner Gwen Jorgensen on the running track at the 2016 Olympic Games

Together with Nino Schurter , Jolanda Neff (both mountain bikes) and Giulia Steingruber (artistic gymnastics), she took part in the 2015 European Games in Baku in June and was able to win the triathlon competition. In July she became European champion on the Olympic short distance for the fifth time in Geneva. In the Triathlon World Championship racing series in 2015 , she finished 17th as the best Swiss woman.

2nd place Olympic Games 2016

In March 2016, she was involved in a fall in the first race of the world championship racing series on the bike, and she suffered multiple fractures on the back of her left hand. In 2016 she qualified for a place in the Olympic Games for the fourth time and competed for Switzerland on August 20 in Rio de Janeiro - together with Andrea Salvisberg , Jolanda Annen , and Sven Riederer ; Spirig came second.

She is supervised by Australian Brett Sutton (he also coaches Daniela Ryf ; “Trainer of the year 2017”).

In 2017, she announced the first start of the St. Moritz Duathlon on August 6th after her maternity leave and she was able to win the race again as in the previous year.

In July 2018, Nicola Spirig-Hug became Swiss champion on the triathlon sprint distance for the third time after 2010 and 2016 in Seedorf. In August, she won the title of European Champion for the sixth time in Glasgow - something no other athlete has achieved before. In the annual ranking of the ITU World Championship Series 2018 she finished 27th as the best Swiss woman after the last race in Australia in September.

In July 2020, she injured herself while training in a fall with the bike and broke the radial head on her left elbow.

Private

She has been married to the extriathlon professional Reto Hug (* 1975) since 2013 . The couple lives with their two sons and their daughter (2013, 2017, 2019) in Bachenbülach, Zurich . In addition to sporting activities, Nicola Spirig works as a consultant for companies.

Awards

• 2000: Young Athlete of the Year , Swiss Sports Aid
• 2001: Newcomer of the Year (Switzerland)
• 2012: Sportsman of the Year (Switzerland)
• 2015, 2016: ETU Athlete of the Year

Sporting successes

(DNF - Did Not Finish )

• European team championship: gold medal 2000, silver medal 2002, silver medal 2006
• Swiss Junior Champion 5000 m: 2000, 2001
• Swiss cross-country champion: 2001 and 2009
• Junior European Championship cross-country: silver medal 1999 and 2000
• Swiss champion 5000 meter run : 2009

literature

• Nicola Spirig-Hug in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Web links

Commons : Nicola Spirig  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Nicola Spirig's website
• Profile for Nicola Spirig-Hug at the Institute for Applied Training Science , accessed on July 14, 2014
• Profile and results of Nicola Spirig-Hug in the ITU database at Triathlon.org , accessed on July 19, 2020 (English).
• Nicola Spirig-Hug in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jörg Greb: The "fast" son of the triathlon Olympic champion. In: Tages-Anzeiger . March 24, 2013.
2. ↑ Christoph Gertsch: How Nicola Spirig became a gold medalist - triathlon instead of trampoline. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . August 4, 2012, accessed July 14, 2014 . 
3. ^ Prize Money and Gold Group for 2011 World Championship Series
4. ↑ 7 other athletes selected for London (June 15, 2012)
5. ↑ Spirig, Schurter, Neff and Steingruber take part in the European Games 2015 in Baku ( Memento of the original from June 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (April 29, 2015) 
6. ↑ Nicola Spirig has to take a break (March 6, 2016)
7. ↑ Ironwoman Ryf wins the title before Spirig (December 15, 2016)
8. ↑ Nicola Spirig starts competition comeback in St. Moritz (August 2, 2017)
9. ↑ Urner Sonnenschein and Swiss Champion (July 1, 2018)
10. ↑ 6. Triumph at the European Triathlon Championships - Nicola Spirig rushes to gold in Glasgow! (August 9, 2018)
11. ↑ FALL IN VELOTRAINING: NICOLA SPIRIG, JULIE DERRON AND MAX STUDER INJURED (July 19, 2020)
12. ↑ Nicola Spirig becomes a mother for the third time. In: Tages-Anzeiger from April 15, 2019.
13. ↑ SUPER LEAGUE TRIATHLON JERSEY, DAY 2: NICOLA SPIRIG ENJOYS 3rd PLACE IN THE OVERALL RATING (September 25, 2017)
14. ↑ After the duathlon, Spirig also wins the triathlon! (August 7, 2016)
15. ↑ Ironman 70.3 Antwerp 2012: Spirig and Aernouts win (July 22, 2012)
16. ↑ Nicola Spirig doesn't give competition a chance in Zurich either. In: Aargauer Zeitung . July 14, 2012, accessed July 14, 2014 . 
17. ^ Del Corral And Morrison Win Alpe d'Huez Triathlon
18. ↑ Alpe d'Huez Short Course results and report 2011
19. ↑ Nicola Spirig wins the Zurich Triathlon
20. ↑ Ironman 70.3: Spirig ends season with victory in Austin
21. ↑ Kai Baumgartner: Nicola Spirig confidently wins the title at the Monaco Ironman 70.3 . In: 3athlon.de . September 7, 2008. Archived from the original on September 11, 2008.
22. ^ First Japanese success at the World Cup in Eilat / Israel
23. ↑ Vanessa Fernandes wins the Olympic course in Beijing ( Memento of the original from December 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
24. ↑ Triathlon SM / European Cup Geneva (VW-circuit) ( Memento of the original from December 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
25. ↑ Uster Triathlon - WALL OF FAME
26. ↑ 2010 Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series Kitzbuehel: Elite Women: Results
27. ↑ 2010 Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship Series Seoul: Elite Women: Results
28. ^ Dextro Energy Triathlon-ITU World Championship London
29. ↑ Triathlon: Emma Moffat wins superior ( Memento from July 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
30. ↑ Short-distance European Championships Athlone: ​​Spirig defends title
31. ^ ETU short distance EM: Title to Gomez and Spirig
32. ↑ Ruedi Wild Swiss champions for the first time - Ruedi Wild and Nicola Spirig take the national titles. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. August 28, 2011, accessed July 14, 2014 . 
33. ↑ Champion title for Sven Riederer and Nicola Spirig. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. August 8, 2010, accessed July 14, 2014 . 
34. ↑ Favorites made the race in Lausanne
35. ↑ Triathlon title for Riederer and Spirig
36. ↑ Nicola Spirig and Sven Riederer new Swiss champions
37. ↑ Hat trick for Schildknecht and Spirig. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. May 16, 2010, accessed July 14, 2014 . 
38. ↑ In Sauseschritt the second string (10 June 2018)
39. ↑ Marathon in Zurich: Spirig meets EM limit on debut. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . April 6, 2014, accessed July 14, 2014 . 
40. ↑ New Year's Eve runs: Rank beats Raelert in Rostock (January 2, 2012)