Karin Enke
Encyclopedia
Karin Enke (born 20 June 1961 in Dresden
, East Germany), also known as Karin Busch(-Enke), Karin Kania(-Enke), and Karin Enke-Richter, is a former speed skater
, one of the most dominant ones of the 1980s.
. Representing East-Germany she came in 9th place at the European Figure Skating Championships
in 1977. Later she changed to speed skating.
Dominant on all distances (being reigning World Allround Champion
and World Sprint Champion
, and having won German Single Distance Championships titles on all 5 distances in 1983), Enke was the favourite for all 4 distances at the 1984 Winter Olympics
of Sarajevo
, but she won "only" 2 gold and 2 silver medals. At the World Cup
, Enke had 21 Single Distance victories, but won only one overall World Cup. She retired from speed skating after the 1987/1988 season.
Born as Karin Enke, she married in 1981 and competed as Karin Busch during the 1981/1982 winter. The marriage did not last long and during the 1982/1983 and 1983/1984 winters, she competed as Karin Enke again. After marrying her longtime former trainer – Rudolf Kania – in 1984, she competed as Karin Kania for the rest of her speed skating career. After her career had ended, she divorced and married again and became Karin Enke-Richter.
Like several other female East German skaters who got married after the season had ended (and several of them more than once over the course of their careers), Enke caused some confusion among the speed skating public when she – a skater with a name unfamiliar to them – suddenly won major titles in her "first" season. Commentators were apt to make remarks like "Karin Kania is the skater we knew as Karin Enke last season" and some commentators even, half-jokingly, made remarks like "I wonder what her name will be next season". To alleviate the confusion, Enke kept her maiden name as the first part of her last name after her third marriage, just like Gunda Kleemann
(also known as Gunda Niemann and Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann) kept Niemann (the name of her first husband) as the first part of her last name even after her divorce and both before and after her second marriage, which is unusual in most Western European countries.
-documents, which were shown during the programme. Citation: "[Dem Arzt] war bekannt, dass Karin ENKE zu den Olympischen Spielen zu den ausgewählten Athleten gehörte, die mit erheblichen Mengen Testosteron und gleichzeitigen Gegenspritzen von Epitestosteron auf ihre Wettkämpfe vorbereitet würden." ("It was known to the medic, that Karin ENKE at the Olympic Games belonged to those athletes who were prepared for the Games with relevant measures of Testosteron and, synchronously, with contrasting measures of Epitosteron.").
Note that Enke's personal record on the 500 m was not a world record because Bonnie Blair
skated 39.10 at the same tournament (the 1988 Winter Olympics
). Enke's personal record on the 1,000 m was not a world record either because (again at the same 1988 Winter Olympics) Christa Rothenburger
skated 1:17.65 – 0.05 seconds faster.
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, East Germany), also known as Karin Busch(-Enke), Karin Kania(-Enke), and Karin Enke-Richter, is a former speed skater
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
, one of the most dominant ones of the 1980s.
Short biography
Karin Enke started her sport career as a figure skater at the club SC Einheit DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. Representing East-Germany she came in 9th place at the European Figure Skating Championships
European Figure Skating Championships
The European Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition in which figure skaters compete for the title of European Champion...
in 1977. Later she changed to speed skating.
Dominant on all distances (being reigning World Allround Champion
World Allround Speed Skating Championships
The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world...
and World Sprint Champion
World Sprint Speed Skating Championships
The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day...
, and having won German Single Distance Championships titles on all 5 distances in 1983), Enke was the favourite for all 4 distances at the 1984 Winter Olympics
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...
of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, but she won "only" 2 gold and 2 silver medals. At the World Cup
Speed Skating World Cup
The Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter, a number of competitions on a number of different distances are held...
, Enke had 21 Single Distance victories, but won only one overall World Cup. She retired from speed skating after the 1987/1988 season.
Born as Karin Enke, she married in 1981 and competed as Karin Busch during the 1981/1982 winter. The marriage did not last long and during the 1982/1983 and 1983/1984 winters, she competed as Karin Enke again. After marrying her longtime former trainer – Rudolf Kania – in 1984, she competed as Karin Kania for the rest of her speed skating career. After her career had ended, she divorced and married again and became Karin Enke-Richter.
Like several other female East German skaters who got married after the season had ended (and several of them more than once over the course of their careers), Enke caused some confusion among the speed skating public when she – a skater with a name unfamiliar to them – suddenly won major titles in her "first" season. Commentators were apt to make remarks like "Karin Kania is the skater we knew as Karin Enke last season" and some commentators even, half-jokingly, made remarks like "I wonder what her name will be next season". To alleviate the confusion, Enke kept her maiden name as the first part of her last name after her third marriage, just like Gunda Kleemann
Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann
Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann is a former German speed skater and the most successful speed skater of all time. Born as Gunda Kleemann, she changed her name to Gunda Niemann after her marriage in 1991 to judoka Detlev Niemann. After their divorce in 1995, she kept the name Niemann...
(also known as Gunda Niemann and Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann) kept Niemann (the name of her first husband) as the first part of her last name even after her divorce and both before and after her second marriage, which is unusual in most Western European countries.
Doping use
On 3 January 2010, Giselher Spitzer, a German sport historian and researcher of the Humboldt University in Berlin, revealed in the Dutch TV documentary Andere Tijden ('Other Times') that back in 1984, Karin Enke had been prepared with doping. He based his claim on StasiStasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
-documents, which were shown during the programme. Citation: "[Dem Arzt] war bekannt, dass Karin ENKE zu den Olympischen Spielen zu den ausgewählten Athleten gehörte, die mit erheblichen Mengen Testosteron und gleichzeitigen Gegenspritzen von Epitestosteron auf ihre Wettkämpfe vorbereitet würden." ("It was known to the medic, that Karin ENKE at the Olympic Games belonged to those athletes who were prepared for the Games with relevant measures of Testosteron and, synchronously, with contrasting measures of Epitosteron.").
Medals
An overview of medals won by Enke at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:| Championships | Gold medal | Silver medal | Bronze medal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics Speed skating at the Winter Olympics Speed skating has been featured as a sport in the Winter Olympics since the first winter games in 1924. Women's events were added to the Olympic program for the first time in 1960.-History:... |
1980 (500 m) 1984 (1,000 m) 1984 (1,500 m) |
1984 (500 m) 1984 (3,000 m) 1988 (1,000 m) 1988 (1,500 m) |
1988 (500 m) |
| World Allround World Allround Speed Skating Championships The World Allround Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of the world... |
1982 1984 1986 1987 1988 |
1981 1983 |
|
| World Sprint World Sprint Speed Skating Championships The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day... |
1980 1981 1983 1984 1986 1987 |
1982 1988 |
|
| World Cup Speed Skating World Cup The Speed Skating World Cup is a series of international speed skating competitions, organised yearly by the International Skating Union since the winter of 1985–86. Every year during the winter, a number of competitions on a number of different distances are held... |
1986 (1,000 m) | 1986 (500 m) 1986 (1,500 m) 1988 (1,000 m) |
1986 (3,000/5,000 m) 1988 (500 m) 1988 (1,500 m) 1988 (3,000/5,000 m) |
| European Allround European Speed Skating Championships The European Speed Skating Championships are a series of speed skating events held annually to determine the best allround speed skater of Europe. The International Skating Union has organised the European Championships for Men since 1893 and the European Championships for Women since 1970. The... |
1981 1982 1983 |
||
| German Allround | 1982 1983 |
||
| German Sprint | 1984 1986 |
1983 | |
| German Single Distance | 1980 (1,000 m) 1983 (500 m) 1983 (1,000 m) 1983 (1,500 m) 1983 (3,000 m) 1983 (5,000 m) 1984 (500 m) 1984 (1,000 m) 1984 (1,500 m) 1986 (1,000 m) 1987 (500 m) 1988 (1,000 m) 1988 (1,500 m) |
1980 (1,500 m) 1986 (500 m) 1986 (1,500 m) 1986 (3,000 m) 1988 (500 m) |
1980 (500 m) |
World records
Over the course of her career, Enke skated 10 world records:| Distance | Result | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
168.271 | 14 February 1982 | Inzell Eisstadion Inzell Eisstadion Inzell is a stadium located in Inzell, Germany, best known as a speed skating venue. It is an outdoor, artificial ice, rink, located 690 metres above sea level and has a capacity of 20,000 people... |
| 1,500 m | 2:03.42 | 9 February 1984 | Sarajevo Olympic Hall Zetra Olympic Hall Juan Antonio Samaranch , also known as Zetra Ice Stadium and Zetra Arena, is an indoor multi-purpose arena in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina... |
| 1,000 m | 1:18.84 | 22 February 1986 | Karuizawa |
| Sprint combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
160.060 | 23 February 1986 | Karuizawa |
| 1,500 m | 2:02.23 | 6 March 1986 | Inzell Eisstadion Inzell Eisstadion Inzell is a stadium located in Inzell, Germany, best known as a speed skating venue. It is an outdoor, artificial ice, rink, located 690 metres above sea level and has a capacity of 20,000 people... |
| 3,000 m | 4:18.02 | 21 March 1986 | Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world... |
| 500 m | 39.52 | 21 March 1986 | Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world... |
| 1,500 m | 1:59.30 | 22 March 1986 | Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world... |
| Mini combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
168.387 | 22 March 1986 | Inzell Eisstadion Inzell Eisstadion Inzell is a stadium located in Inzell, Germany, best known as a speed skating venue. It is an outdoor, artificial ice, rink, located 690 metres above sea level and has a capacity of 20,000 people... |
| 1,000 m | 1:18.11 | 5 December 1987 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the last column (WR) lists the official world records on the dates that Enke skated her personal records.| Distance | Result | Date | Location | WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 39.24 | 22 February 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
39.39 |
| 1,000 m | 1:17.70 | 26 February 1988 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
1:18.11 |
| 1,500 m | 1:59.30 | 22 March 1986 | Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world... |
2:02.23 |
| 3,000 m | 4:17.76 | 5 December 1987 | Calgary Olympic Oval The Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a covered speed skating oval built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. It is the official designated training center for Speed Skate Canada and the Canadian National Speed Skating team. It is located on the University of Calgary campus... |
4:16.85 |
| 5,000 m | 7:39.82 | 22 March 1986 | Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world... |
7:31.45 |
| Small combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
168.272 | 22 March 1986 | Medeo Medeo The Medeu , or Medeo , is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1,691 metres above sea level, making it the highest skating rink in the world... |
171.760 |
| Mini combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
168.271 | 14 February 1982 | Inzell Eisstadion Inzell Eisstadion Inzell is a stadium located in Inzell, Germany, best known as a speed skating venue. It is an outdoor, artificial ice, rink, located 690 metres above sea level and has a capacity of 20,000 people... |
168.387 |
| Sprint combination Samalog Samalog is a scoring system in speed skating. It is used in allround tournaments to convert results at various distances into points in order to determine an overall champion... |
160.060 | 23 February 1986 | Karuizawa | 161.120 |
Note that Enke's personal record on the 500 m was not a world record because Bonnie Blair
Bonnie Blair
Bonnie Kathleen Blair is a retired American speedskater. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal.-Career:Blair...
skated 39.10 at the same tournament (the 1988 Winter Olympics
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy...
). Enke's personal record on the 1,000 m was not a world record either because (again at the same 1988 Winter Olympics) Christa Rothenburger
Christa Rothenburger
Christa Luding-Rothenburger is a former speed skater and track cyclist. She was born in Weißwasser, East Germany.- Short biography :...
skated 1:17.65 – 0.05 seconds faster.