Stephan Freigang

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).

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  East Germany
1986 World Junior Championships Athens, Greece 4th 10,000m 29:53.52
4th 20 km road run 1:04:52
Representing  Germany
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 3rd Marathon 2:14:00
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 10th 10,000m 28:15.98
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. — Marathon DNF
1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary 24th Marathon 2:17:24

Marathons
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
1987 Budapest Marathon Budapest, Hungary 1st 2:14:34
1988 Fukuoka Marathon Fukuoka, Japan 8th 2:12:28
1990 Berlin Marathon Berlin, Germany 4th 2:09:45
1991 Palermo Marathon Palermo, Italy 1st 2:12:00
1993 Frankfurt Marathon Frankfurt, Germany 1st 2:11:53
1995 Tokyo Marathon Tokyo, Japan 2nd 2:10:12
1997 Cologne Marathon Cologne, Germany 1st 2:11:58
1998 Frankfurt Marathon Frankfurt, Germany 1st 2:12:58
Hanover Marathon Hanover, Germany 1st 2:12:16
1999 Hanover Marathon Hanover, Germany 1st 2:13:48
2001 Leipzig Marathon Leipzig, Germany 1st 2:15:57
Lisbon Marathon Lisbon, Portugal 1st 2:14:27
2002 Leipzig Marathon Leipzig, Germany 2nd 2:20:11

References
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