Alexander König (born 23 August 1966) is a German

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

coach and former competitor. Competing in pairs with Peggy Schwarz, he became the 1988 European bronze medalist and placed seventh at three Winter Olympics. As a single skater, he is the 1982 World Junior bronze medalist.

Personal life

König was born on 23 August 1966 in

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; , ) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge of the D� ...

Bezirk Leipzig The Bezirk Leipzig was a district (''Bezirk'') of East Germany that would last from 1952 to 1990. Leipzig would be reabsorbed into Saxony after the reunification of Germany. The administrative seat and the main town was Leipzig. History The dist ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. In 1969, his family moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. From 1985 to 1988, he attended school to become a specialist in

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between Human food, food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well ver ...

. From 1994 to 1997, he studied sport at the Trainerakademie in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Career

Competitive career

König began learning to skate in Berlin and would become a member of

SC Dynamo Berlin The Sports Club Dynamo Berlin was an East German sports club that existed from 1954 to 1991. It was the largest sports club of SV Dynamo, the sports association of the security agencies. The club was reformed after German reunification and succe ...

. Inge Wischnewski was one of his first coaches at the club. Competing as a single skater, he won bronze at the 1982 World Junior Championships, which took place in December 1981 in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...

. In 1985, König switched to

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating ...

and teamed up with Peggy Schwarz. Their coach was Hedemarie Steiner-Walther. Schwarz/König won the bronze medal at the 1988 European Championships. They represented East Germany at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, finishing seventh. In 1990, Schwarz/König changed coaches, deciding to join Knut Schubert. They placed seventh at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

and had the same result at the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

. The pair parted ways in 1994 as Schwarz was pregnant. König decided to retire from competition that year.

Coaching career and other work

König is an A-licensed coach of the

Deutsche Eislauf-Union The German Ice Skating Union (, DEU) is the national amateur association for figure skating and ice dancing in Germany. The various German ice sports associations constitute the membership of the DEU; individuals cannot become members. The Deutsch ...

. While studying, he worked as a coach in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Following his graduation, he took a coaching job in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

. From 2001 to 2008, König coached in

. He is also a figure skating judge and technical specialist. He coached in

from the summer of 2008 until 2018. In 2018, he returned to coach in Berlin. In October 2014, König joined the coaching team of

Aliona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko (, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a retired Ukrainian-born German pair skater. One of the most decorated pair skaters, she ...

and

Bruno Massot Bruno Massot (born 28 January 1989) is a French-German pair skating coach and former competitor. Competing with Aljona Savchenko for Germany, he is the 2018 Olympic Champion, the 2018 World Champion, a two-time European silver medalist, and t ...

. The pair would win gold at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

, 2018 World Championships, and

2017–18 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final The 2017–18 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final and ISU Junior Grand Prix Final took place from 7 to 10 December 2017 at the Nagoya Civic General Gymnasium (Nippon Gaishi Hall) in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya was announced as the host on 3 November 201 ...

. In the fall of 2022, he briefly coached Georgian pair teams,

Karina Safina Karina Ilgizarovna Safina (, ka, კარინა ილგიზაროვნა საფინა, born 28 May 2004) is a Russian- Georgian pair skater who competes for Georgia. With her former partner, Luka Berulava, she is the 2022 Wor ...

Luka Berulava Luka Berulava (; ka, ლუკა ბერულავა, born 27 November 2002) is a Russian-born pair skater who currently competes for Georgia. With current partner Anastasia Metelkina, he is a two-time European Figure Skating Championships, ...

and Anastasia Metelkina / Daniil Parkman. Since 1983, König has also had a career as a painter. He has had several exhibitions for his paintings.

Results

Men's singles

Pairs career with Schwarz

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Alexander 1966 births Living people People from Eilenburg Sportspeople from Bezirk Leipzig German male pair skaters German male single skaters German figure skating coaches International Skating Union technical specialists Olympic figure skaters for East Germany East German male figure skaters Figure skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Figure skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Germany European Figure Skating Championships medalists World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters from Saxony Sportspeople from East Berlin Figure skating judges SC Dynamo Berlin sportspeople