Olaf Zinke

Olaf Zinke (born October 9, 1966 in Bad Muskau ) is a former German speed skater .

By far the greatest success of the trained car mechanic Zinke, who started for SC Berlin , was the completely surprising Olympic victory over 1000 meters at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville with 1 hundredth of a second ahead of the South Korean Yun-Man Kim . He took 6th place over 1500 meters. Neither before nor after could he even come close to achieving a comparable performance in international championships, but apart from the Olympic Games, he also won two World Cup races and was among the top three ten times. He made his debut in the World Cup in December 1986 and ran his last race in January 1994. In 1990 he was third in the overall World Cup over the 1000-meter distance and fourth over the 1500-meter distance. The following season he was fourth again on the 1000-meter course.

On May 6, 2002, he received the Silver Laurel Leaf for his athletic achievements.

Web links

Statistics from Olaf Zinke at Speedskatingnews
Olaf Zinke at Skateresults
Olaf Zinke in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

↑ "Is this what the future of GDR athletes looks like? For example: speed skater Olaf Zinke. An Olympic champion accuses", Sport-Bild from February 3, 1993, p. 62f.
↑ Press release of the Federal President's Office: Greetings from Federal President Johannes Rau on May 6, 2002 on the occasion of the awarding of the Silver Laurel Leaf to the medal winners of the Olympic Winter Games 2002 ...

personal data
SURNAME	Prong, Olaf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German speed skater
DATE OF BIRTH	October 9, 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bad Muskau

[1] "Is this what the future of GDR athletes looks like? For example: speed skater Olaf Zinke. An Olympic champion accuses", Sport-Bild from February 3, 1993, p. 62f.

[2] Press release of the Federal President's Office: Greetings from Federal President Johannes Rau on May 6, 2002 on the occasion of the awarding of the Silver Laurel Leaf to the medal winners of the Olympic Winter Games 2002 ...