Niemann-Stirnemann leads 1-2-3 German medal sweep

February 11, 1998

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Niemann-Stirnemann leads 1-2-3 German medal sweep

Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann

(M-Wave, Nagano City)
15:00- Start

Defending world champion Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann led a German 1-2-3 medal sweep in the Olympic women's 3,000-meter speed skating event Wednesday to win her sixth career Olympic medal.

The 31-year-old veteran, skating in the second-to-last pairing, crossed the finish line in 4 minutes, 7.29 seconds to slash more than four seconds off the old Olympic record at the M-Wave indoor oval in Nagano.

Claudia Pechstein, bronze medalist in this distance at the Lillehammer Olympics, took the silver by clocking 4:08.47 while German compatriot Anna Friesinger skated 4:09.44 for the bronze.

Niemann-Stirnemann's time came just 0.16 second shy of Pechstein's 2-month-old world record.

But the victory gave Niemann-Stirnemann her third Olympic gold and cast away the Olympic ghost of Lillehammer, where she crashed to the ice at this same distance four years ago and was disqualified.

Niemann-Stirnemann also led a 1-2-3 German sweep of the medals during the women's 5,000 meters at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games.

Japanese national champion Mie Uehara clocked 4:17.92 for 14th place. Her teammates Chiharu Nozaki and Noriko Munekata finished 17th and 18th respectively. (Kyodo News)

Results of speed skating women's 3,000 meters Wednesday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at M-Wave indoor oval, Nagano:

1. Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, Germany 4 minutes, 7.29 seconds (Olympic record)

2. Claudia Pechstein, Germany 4:08.47

3. Anna Friesinger, Germany 4:09.44

4. Jennifer Rodriguez, U.S. 4:11.64

5. Emese Hunyady, Austria 4:12.01

6. Kirstin Holum, U.S. 4:12.24

7. Lyudmila Prokasheva, Kazakstan 4:14.23

8. Annamarie Thomas, Netherlands 4:14.38

9. Carla Zijlstra, Netherlands 4:16.43

10. Svetlana Bazhanova, Russia 4:16.45

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14. Mie Uehara, Japan 4:17.92

17. Chiharu Nozaki, Japan 4:19.60

18. Noriko Munekata, Japan 4:20.72

20. Lee Kyung Nam, South Korea 4:21.10

23. Bak Eun Bi, South Korea 4:24.50

26. Song Li, China 4:28.99

31. Kenzhes Orynbayeva, Kazakstan 4:42.07

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