Christa Luding-Rothenburger ( Rothenburger, born 4 December 1959) is a former

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

and

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

. She was born in

Weißwasser Weißwasser ( hsb, Běła Woda) is a town in Upper Lusatia in eastern Saxony, Germany. Weißwasser is the third largest town in the Görlitz district after Görlitz and Zittau. The town's landmark is its water tower. The town is part of the re ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. Luding is one of the few athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, and the first female to win a medal in both the Summer and Winter Games. She is the only athlete to win Winter and Summer Olympic medals in the same year (1988), a feat that is no longer possible due to the staggering of the Winter and Summer Olympic years. In speed skating, she is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, while she is an Olympic silver medallist in cycling.

Biography

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-0830-004, Christa Luding

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1988-0707-043, Christa Ludwig

Before the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

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 A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

3 times (in 1986, 1988 and 1989) and the 1000 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. First 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 The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...

, she won

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

gold in the women's sprint and silver the following year. This made her the second woman (after

Sheila Young Sheila Grace Young-Ochowicz (born October 14, 1950) is a retired American speed skater and track cyclist. She won three world titles in each of these sports, twice in the same year (in 1973 and 1976). In 1976, she also became the first American ...

) to become world champion in both speed skating and cycling. In October 1986, she was awarded a

Star of People's Friendship The Star of People's Friendship (german: Stern der Völkerfreundschaft), Star of Nations' Friendship, was an Order (decoration), order awarded by the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR). Established 20 August 1959, it was given to i ...

in gold (second class) for her sporting success. In 1988, she earned the distinction of being the only athlete to win Summer and Winter

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

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 ''Winter Games'' is a sports video game developed by Epyx (and released in Europe by U.S. Gold), based on sports featured in the Winter Olympic Games. A snow-and-ice themed follow-up to the highly successful '' Summer Games'', ''Winter Games'' ...

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, Alberta,

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, she won the gold medal in the 1000 m speed skating event and silver in the 500 m. Seven months later, she won the silver medal in the (1000 m) sprint in track cycling at the Summer Games in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, 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.

Medals

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

World records

Over the course of her career, Rothenburger skated 8

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

Personal records

References

External links