Stephan Freigang

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Stephan Timo Freigang (born 27 September 1967, in Hohenleipisch, Brandenburg) is a former long-distance runner from Germany, who won the bronze medal in the men's marathon at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He also competed for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a three-time participant at the World Championships in Athletics (1991, 1993 and 1995).

Contents

Life and sports

As a youth, Freigang ran long-distance races. As a 16-year-old he took part in 15 km runs. In 1986 he was fourth at the World Junior Championships in the 10,000 meter run and in the 20 km run. He ran his first marathon in 1987 with a time of 2 hours 14 min. 34 sec. He sporting career was in question in 1989 after a bad motorcycle accident, but in 1990 he was once again one of the top German runners and took place in the September sporting event in Berlin and recorded a time of 28:05 in the 10,000, a result that was the best by a German that year. He won the Berlin Half Marathon in 1990 and 1992.

At the 1992 Olympic games he planned to run the 10,000 meters, but he failed to qualify for the German team in that event. But with a marathon time of 2 hours 12 minutes in Palermo, December 1991, he was still able to join the Olympic team. The marathon at the games came to a dramatic end. He reached the stadium in third place, but was overtaken by Takeyuji Nakayama of Japan. Even so, he was able to overtake Nakayama to take the bronze.

After his Olympic medal he had no further important results in international competitions. Freigang represented first LC Cottbus and trained with Dieter Bittermann. In 2002 he has represented SC DHfK Leipzig and has trained under Karl-Heinz Baumback and Dr. Thomas Prochnow. In 2005 he retired from sport. During his career he was 1.76 meters tall and weighed 65 kilograms.

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany
1986 World Junior Championships Athens, Greece 4th10,000m 29:53.52
4th20 km road run 1:04:52
Representing Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 3rdMarathon2:14:00
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 10th10,000m 28:15.98
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. MarathonDNF
1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary 24thMarathon 2:17:24

Marathons

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
1987 Budapest Marathon Budapest, Hungary1st2:14:34
1988 Fukuoka Marathon Fukuoka, Japan8th2:12:28
1990 Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 4th2:09:45
1991 Palermo Marathon Palermo, Italy1st2:12:00
1993 Frankfurt Marathon Frankfurt, Germany1st2:11:53
1995 Tokyo Marathon Tokyo, Japan 2nd2:10:12
1997 Cologne Marathon Cologne, Germany1st2:11:58
1998 Frankfurt Marathon Frankfurt, Germany1st2:12:58
Hanover Marathon Hanover, Germany1st2:12:16
1999 Hanover Marathon Hanover, Germany1st2:13:48
2001 Leipzig Marathon Leipzig, Germany1st2:15:57
Lisbon Marathon Lisbon, Portugal1st2:14:27
2002 Leipzig Marathon Leipzig, Germany2nd2:20:11

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References

Sporting positions
Preceded by Men's Leipzig Marathon winner
2001
Succeeded by