Vera Michelle, née Steiert (born 6 November 1958) is a retired (West) German middle and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

, born in

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Ge ...

. In her early career she competed in

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

at the 1983 World Championships, without advancing from the heats. She finished fourth at the 1982 European Indoor Championships and also fourth at the 1983 European Indoor Championships. She later started doubling in both 1500 and 3000 metres. At the 1986 European Championships she did not reach the 1500 metres final, but finished tenth in the 3000 metres final. The same thing happened at the 1987 World Championships, only with an eleventh place in the 3000 final. At the 1988 Olympics she did not progress, neither from the

1500 Year 1500 (Roman numerals, MD) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The year 1500 was not a leap year in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. The year was seen as being especially important by many Christians in Europe, ...

nor the

3000 3000 or ''variation'', may refer to: * 3000 (number), the number three thousand * A.D. 3000, the last year of the 30th century and the 3rd millennium CE * 3000 BCE, a year in the 3rd millennium BC * 3000s AD, a decade, century, millennium in the 4 ...

heat. Her indoor success continued. She finished fourth at the 1987 European Indoor Championships, won the silver medal at the 1988 European Indoor Championships, fourth at the 1989 World Indoor Championships, but did not finish the 1989 European Indoor Championships. Michallek became West German

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

champion in 1984, 1500 metres champion in 1988 and 1990, 3000 metres champion in 1988 and

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

champion in 1987 (short race). Indoors she became West German 1500 metres champion 1986, 1987 and 1989 as well as 3000 metres champion in 1988 and 1989. She represented the clubs

ASV Köln Athletik-Sport-Verein Köln e.V. is a multi-sports club from Cologne, Germany. It has sections for rugby union, athletics, triathlon and karate General history The club was formed on 27 February 1929, under the name of Akademischen Sportverein Kö ...

, LG Ahlen-Hamm,

LG Frankfurt LG Corporation (or LG Group) (), formerly Lucky-Goldstar from 1983 to 1995 (Korean: ''Leokki Geumseong''; ), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is ...

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

and

LAC Quelle Fürth Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...

. His personal best times were 4:04.29 minutes in the 1500 metres, achieved in August 1986 in

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

; 4:32.12 minutes in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

, achieved in June 1988 in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

; 8:47.62 minutes in the 3000 metres, achieved in July 1988 in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

; and 15:41.68 minutes in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

, achieved in September 1986 in

Gelnhausen Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig. It is one of ...

.World women's all-time best 5000m
(last updated 2001) Indoors she had a somewhat better 3000 metres time of 8:46.97 minutes (1988). In the mile run she holds a German indoor record.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michallek, Vera 1958 births Living people People from Lindau Sportspeople from Swabia (Bavaria) West German female middle-distance runners West German female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for West Germany World Athletics Championships athletes for West Germany ASV Köln athletes LG Ahlen-Hamm athletes LG Frankfurt athletes Eintracht Frankfurt athletes LAC Quelle Fürth athletes