Stephan Timo Freigang (born 27 September 1967) 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 represented SC DHfK Leipzig and has trained under Karl-Heinz Baumbach 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 Representing 1986World Junior ChampionshipsAthens, Greece4th10,000m29:53.524th20 km road run1:04:52Representing 1992Olympic GamesBarcelona, Spain 3rdMarathon2:14:001994European ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland10th10,000m28:15.981996Olympic GamesAtlanta, Georgia, U.S.—MarathonDNF1998European Championships Budapest, Hungary24thMarathon2:17:24
Marathons 1987Budapest MarathonBudapest, Hungary 1st2:14:341988Fukuoka MarathonFukuoka, Japan8th2:12:281990Berlin MarathonBerlin, Germany4th2:09:451991Palermo MarathonPalermo, Italy 1st2:12:001993Frankfurt MarathonFrankfurt, Germany 1st2:11:531995Tokyo MarathonTokyo, Japan 2nd2:10:121997Cologne MarathonCologne, Germany 1st2:11:581998Frankfurt MarathonFrankfurt, Germany 1st2:12:58Hanover MarathonHanover, Germany 1st2:12:161999Hanover MarathonHanover, Germany 1st2:13:482001Leipzig MarathonLeipzig, Germany 1st2:15:57Lisbon MarathonLisbon, Portugal 1st2:14:272002Leipzig MarathonLeipzig, Germany 2nd2:20:11
References