Christa Luding

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Christa Luding bigraphy, stories - German racing cyclist

Christa Luding : biography

4 December 1959 –

Christa Luding-Rothenburger (born 4 December 1959) is a former speed skater and track cyclist. She was born in Weißwasser, East Germany.

Short biography

Before the German reunification in 1990, Luding competed for East Germany – afterwards for Germany. For more than 10 years, she was one of the world’s best sprinters in speed skating. At the World Sprint Championships in speed skating, she became World Champion twice (in 1985 and 1988), won silver twice (in 1986 and 1989), and won 4 bronze medals (in 1979, 1983, 1987, and 1992). She has also won the 500 m World Cup 3 times (in 1986, 1988, and 1989) and the 1,000 m World Cup once (in 1988).

In 1980, she was convinced by her coach, Ernst Luding (whom she would marry after the 1988 Winter Olympics), to take up cycling during the off-season. Originally, she was told to stick to skating, but finally the president of the East German sports federation gave her permission to enter international cycling competitions. At the 1986 World Cycling Championships, she won track cycling gold in the women’s sprint and silver the following year. This made her the second woman (after Sheila Young) to become World Champion in both speed skating and cycling.

In 1988, she earned the distinction of being the only athlete to win Summer and Winter Olympic medals in the same year. It also made her the first woman, and the third athlete overall, to win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. At the Winter Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada she won the gold medal in the 1,000 m speed skating event and silver in the 500 m. Seven months later, she won the silver medal in the (1,000 m) sprint in track cycling at the Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.

After winning a bronze medal at the 1992 World Sprint Championships (in which she was unable to win any of the 4 distances), Luding-Rothenburger ended her speed skating career.

Personal records

Distance Result Date Location
500 m 39.12 22 February 1988 Calgary
1,000 m 1:17.65 26 February 1988 Calgary
1,500 m 2:05.83 16 January 1988 Davos
3,000 m 4:50.59 17 January 2010 Davos
Mini combination 176.227 17 January 1982 Davos
Sprint combination 159.500 26 February 1989 Heerenveen

Medals

An overview of medals won by Rothenburger at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:

Championships Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal
Speed skating
Winter Olympics 1984 (500 m) 1988 (1,000 m) 1988 (500 m) 1992 (500 m)
World Sprint 1985 1988 1986 1989 1979 1983 1987 1992
World Cup 1986 (500 m) 1988 (500 m) 1988 (1,000 m) 1989 (500 m) 1986 (1,000 m) 1989 (500 m)
German Sprint 1981 1982 1983 1992 1978 1979 1988 1977
German Single Distance 1980 (500 m) 1985 (500 m) 1986 (500 m) 1988 (500 m) 1989 (500 m) 1991 (500 m) 1991 (1,000 m) 1980 (1,000 m) 1984 (500 m) 1986 (1,000 m) 1988 (1,000 m) 1989 (1,000 m) 1983 (500 m) 1983 (1,000 m) 1984 (1,000 m)
Track cycling
Summer Olympics 1988 (Sprint)
World Sprint 1986 1987

World records

Over the course of her career, Rothenburger skated 8 world records:

Distance Result Date Location
500 m 40.28 27 March 1981 Medeo
1,000 m 1:20.95 27 March 1981 Medeo
500 m 40.18 28 March 1981 Medeo
Sprint combination 162.275 28 March 1981 Medeo
500 m 39.69 25 March 1983 Medeo
Sprint combination 161.120 26 March 1983 Medeo
500 m 39.39 6 December 1987 Calgary
1,000 m 1:17.65 26 February 1988 Calgary