Anni Friesinger

Anna Christina ("Anni") Friesinger (born in Bad Reichenhall, January 11, 1977) is a German speed skater. Her father Georg Friesinger, of Germany, and mother Janina ("Jana") Korowicka, of Poland, were both skaters; Jana was on the Polish team at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Anni's brother Jan and sister Agnes are skaters, too.

Friesinger currently lives in Salzburg, Austria, but has a relationship with former Dutch skater Ids Postma and is planning to move to the Netherlands to live with Postma on his farm. __NOTOC__

Sports merits

Championships

Anni Friesinger has won four Olympic medals; gold at the 1500 m in the 2002 Winter Olympics and the team pursuit in the 2006 Winter Olympics and bronze at the 3000 m in the 1998 Winter Olympics and the 1000 m in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Anni had the high accomplishment of qualifying for the German speed skating team for five events at the 2006 Winter Olympics, including the team pursuit and the individual races at 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m, and 5000 meters. In her bronze medal finish in the 1000 meters, she came in only 7/100 of a second behind the winner.

She is a five-time European Allround Champion and three time World Allround Champion. She has also won numerous titles in the World Single Distance Championships. Although she has specialized in the longer distances, she came in second in the World Sprint Championships in 2004.

Records

Friesinger has set the world record at the 1500 m distance three times during her career, but the record has since been superseded by Canadian competitor Cindy Klassen. The Olympic record, however—1:54.02—still belongs to Friesinger, and was set 20 February 2002 during her winning run at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

***Personal records***
Distance	Time (min:sec.dec)	Event	Place	Date
500 m	38.09	2nd World Cup meet 2005–06	Salt Lake City-Kearns	18 Nov 2005
1,000 m	1:13.95	2nd World Cup meet 2005–06	Salt Lake City-Kearns	18 Nov 2005
1,500 m	1:53.19	2nd World Cup meet 2005–06	Salt Lake City-Kearns	20 Nov 2005
3,000 m	3:58.52	1st World Cup meet 2005–06	Calgary	12 Nov 2005
5,000 m	6:58.39	2002 Winter Olympics	Salt Lake City-Kearns	23 Feb 2002

Non-sport activities

Anni Friesinger has done some modeling work as a sideline, and she has appeared as a swimsuit model in several publications and in less than that in the wide-circulation German magazine Stern. Anni is also known for her particularly powerful thighs, as befits a champion speed skater. She is a physically-attractive woman, and is somewhat of a sex symbol. Hence, she has acquired the humorous nickname of "Sexy Anni".

Bibliography

Mein Leben, mein Sport, meine besten Fitness-Tipps. Mich wirft so schnell nichts aus der Bahn ("My Life, My Sport, My Best Fitness Tips"). March 2004, Goldmann. ISBN 3442390591.

External links