Susanne Maria Meyerhoff (born 7 July 1974 in

Kalundborg Kalundborg () is a Danish city with a population of 16,211 (1 January 2022),European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, a total of ten (three golds, four silver, and three bronze) at numerous meets of the

ISSF World Cup The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four comp ...

series, and a silver as a junior at the 1994 ISSF World Championships in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

Career

Meyerhoff started out as a successful junior at the age of eighteen, and eventually became a runner-up in air pistol shooting at the European Championships in

, when she was twenty. Two years later, Meyerhoff competed internationally on her senior debut for Denmark at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, finishing fifteenth in the

air pistol The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

and thirty-fourth in the

sport pistol A sport pistol or standard pistol is a type of handgun used in several shooting sports, including the Olympic 25 metre pistol event and 25 metre standard pistol. Since 2005, the 25 metre rapid fire pistol rules also require the use of sport pist ...

with scores of 379 and 564 respectively. Between 1997 and 1999, Meyerhoff was able to back up her performance from the Olympics by successfully claiming gold medals in air pistol at three meets of the

series. She also simultaneously captured her first ever European title on the same discipline that marvelously culminated in a selection of being one of the favorites vying for an Olympic medal at the succeeding Games. On her second appearance in

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, Meyerhoff put up a dismal display from her outstanding pre-Olympic aim in shooting, as she stumbled down the leaderboard to a distant thirty-fifth in the

with 372, and then shot a tally of 562 (289 in precision and 273 in the rapid-fire) to force in a two-way tie alongside Germany's

Anke Schumann Anke Schumann (born 21 July 1959) is a German sport shooter who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics, in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and in the 2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also ...

for thirty-ninth place in the

. Meyerhoff showed her most potential form in bouncing back to the range at the 2002 European Championships in

Thessaloniki, Greece Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, claiming the gold for the first time in air pistol after four years at 486.2 points. The next season contributed to a tremendous success for Meyerhoff, as she dominated the field to defend her European title in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden with a personal best of 492.7. She had gone into the

2003 ISSF World Cup For the 2003 ISSF World Cup in the seventeen Olympic shooting events, the World Cup Final was held in October 2003 in Milan, Italy for the rifle, pistol and running target events, and in Rome, Italy for the shotgun events. Rifle, pistol and runn ...

meet in

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, having registered a minimum qualifying score of 384 to assure an Olympic quota place for Denmark on her third Games. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Meyerhoff decided to focus on her signature event, the women's 10 m air pistol. She fired a substandard 379 out of a possible 400 to force in a four-way tie with South Korea's Park Ah-young, Hungary's Dorottya Erdős, and Australia's

Lalita Yauhleuskaya Lalita Yauhleuskaya (born 31 December 1963 in Sokol, Russia) is a professional sporting shooter who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney representing Belarus and currently represents Australia in interna ...

for twenty-first place in the qualifying round, finishing five points below the Olympic final cutoff.

Personal life

Meyerhoff is the mother of 4 children: Julie (1997), Viktoria (2001), William (2008) and August (2012) and married to skeet shooter and 2004 Olympian

Michael Nielsen Michael Aaron Nielsen (born January 4, 1974) is a quantum physicist, science writer, and computer programming researcher living in San Francisco. Work In 1998, Nielsen received his PhD in physics from the University of New Mexico. In 2004, he wa ...

Olympic results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyerhoff, Susanne 1974 births Living people Danish female sport shooters Olympic shooters for Denmark Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kalundborg 21st-century Danish women