Nina Kraft

This article is about the German triathlete Nina Kraft . For the moderator of the same name, see Nina Kraft (moderator) .

0 Nina Kraft
at Rock'N Roll Man , 2010
Personal information
Date of birth	December 31, 1968
place of birth	Braunschweig , Germany
date of death	August 16, 2020
societies
Since 2006	Tri-Lions
successes
2001-2014	9 × Ironman winner
2001, 2003	3rd place Ironman Hawaii
2002	2nd place Ironman Hawaii
2003, 2004	2 × winner of the Ironman European Championship
2006	German champion triathlon middle distance
status
deceased

Nina Kraft (born December 31, 1968 in Braunschweig ; † August 16, 2020 ) was a German triathlete and multiple Ironman winner. She is included in the best list of German triathletes on the Ironman distance .

Athletic career

Nina Kraft was a competitive swimmer until she was 16. After that, she switched to running and regularly participated in competitions. In 1997 she switched to triathlon and started doing this sport professionally in 1999.

She celebrated her greatest successes at the Ironman competitions in Roth and Hawaii . When she first took part in the Ironman Europe in Roth in 1998, she was sixth straight away. In the following years it increased steadily and won the competition twice in a row in 2001 and 2002.

She also took part in the Ironman Hawaii for the first time in 1998 and finished fifty. This was followed by a 16th place in 1999, two third places in 2000 and 2003 and a second place in 2002.

2004 doping ban

In the 2004 competition, which was held in Kailua-Kona on October 16, 2004 , she first crossed the finish line as the winner in 9:33:25 hours. A short time later, she was the EPO - doping transferred, and instead the title went to Natascha Badmann .

After the EPO doping was announced, Nina Kraft did not try to deny the offense, but openly admitted her act. A wave of outrage followed, culminating in a death threat. The athlete was at the low point of her sports career and had to seek psychiatric therapy. She did not reveal her EPO source in public and was approved on December 13, 2004 by the Anti-Doping Commission of the German Triathlon Union (DTU) for two years, for the period from November 12, 2004 to November 12 2006, excluded from all competitions. The association court of the DTU later halved the ban to 12 months for formal legal reasons, as the regulations on which the ban was based had not yet been entered in the association register at the time of the doping. The World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) announced that Nina Kraft would be banned from all events licensed by her until November 12, 2006.

Comeback in 2005

After her suspension expired in November 2005, Nina Kraft planned her comeback and spent several months preparing for it at the US Triathlon Center in Clermont , Florida . Since 2006 she has officially started for the Braunschweig association Tri-Lions and had applied for the elite pass from the German Triathlon Union, which enabled her to be tested for doping worldwide without prior notification.

On February 12, 2006, she took part in the 15th Triathlon International De Santos in the Brazilian city of De Santos over the Olympic distance of 1.5 kilometers swimming, 40 kilometers cycling and 10 kilometers running. With a second place she reported back to the triathlon scene.

In August 2006 she won the German championships over the middle distance in Kulmbach with a lead of over 12 minutes. In 2007 she won the Ironman Brasil and the Ironman Florida with course records and came second at the Ironman Louisville in Kentucky.

On February 1, 2009, Nina Kraft set a new course record for the marathon distance in Florida with 2:45:06 hours. In August she won the Ironman Louisville , in 2011 she was able to repeat this success. In 2014 she won her third gold medal here - at the age of 45 as the oldest Ironman winner to date.

It has not appeared internationally since 2015. Nina Kraft died at the age of 51 on August 16, 2020.

Sporting successes

(DNF - Did Not Finish ; DSQ - Disqualified)

Web links

Commons : Nina Kraft  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Nina Kraft's profile and results in the ITU database at Triathlon.org , accessed on August 23, 2020.
• Profile for Nina Kraft at the Institute for Applied Training Science , accessed on September 29, 2014

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Obituary notice. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung of August 21, 2020. Retrieved on August 21, 2020.
2. ↑ Nina Kraft. Retrieved September 6, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Tallahassee Marathon ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Nina Kraft's last triathlon interview (2007): “I was honest - and I give myself credit for that” (August 19, 2020)
5. ↑ Mourning for triathlete Nina Kraft from Braunschweig - the hard way of the nine-time Ironman winner after the scandal in Hawaii (August 19, 2020)
6. ↑ Hancock produces top time to win Ironman 70.3 Augusta. September 27, 2015.
7. ↑ 2012 Ironman 70.3 Providence, Rhode Island results: Paul Ambrose dominates race.
8. ^ Ironman 70.3: Title defense in San Juan. March 18, 2012.
9. ^ O'Donnell, Williamson take San Juan 70.3.
10. ↑ Cunnama, Spirig Win At Ironman 70.3 Austin.
11. ↑ Ironman 70.3.
12. ↑ St. Croix: Al Sultan and Nina Kraft at the top. May 2, 2004.
13. ↑ Results Women 2008 . Archived from the original on June 15, 2009.