Ariane Friedrich

Ariane Friedrich
Ariane Friedrich in 2010
Personal information
Birth nameAriane Tempel
NationalityGerman
Born (1984-01-10) 10 January 1984 (age 40)
Nordhausen, East Germany
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Sport
Country Germany
SportTrack and field
EventHigh jump
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Germany
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2009 Berlin High jump
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Barcelona High jump
European Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2009 Torino High jump
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2009 Belgrade High jump
Silver medal – second place 2007 Bangkok High jump
Bronze medal – third place 2005 İzmir High jump

Ariane Friedrich (born Tempel; 10 January 1984 in Nordhausen) is a German high jumper. She won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships and represented Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the German outdoor record holder in the event with a best of 2.06 m, although this is 1 cm less than the indoor record held by Heike Henkel.[1]

She became German champion in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, and represents the club LG Eintracht Frankfurt.

Controversy arose in 2012 when she named an alleged stalker on Facebook, potentially violating German privacy laws.[2][3][4]

Career

Friedrich won the gold medal at the 2003 European Junior Championships,[5] the bronze medal at the 2005 Summer Universiade, silver at the 2007 Summer Universiade and the gold medal at the 2009 Summer Universiade.

The 2008 indoor season saw significant improvement in Friedrich's clearances: she improved her best by 8 cm during the period, clearing two metres for the first time and setting her top mark at 2.02 m. Her coach noted that these achievements were due to her improved work ethic and focus.[6] She finished eighth at the 2008 World Indoor Championships and took seventh in the high jump final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Her 2009 indoor season started strongly with a win at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships in a jump of 2.01 m. Her outdoor season started with a personal best jump of 2.06 metres in June 2009 at the Internationales Stadionfest, breaking Heike Henkel's outdoor national record of 2.05 m,[7] and she won another gold at the 2009 European Team Championships later that month. She gained a complete set of Universiade medals in July when she finally won the gold at the 2009 Summer Universiade.

Ariane Friedrich won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin. She reflected that the public pressure for her to become world champion had placed her under much stress. However, she was very happy at having achieved a jump of 2.02 m for third place behind Blanka Vlašić and Anna Chicherova. Friedrich missed the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships due to a knee injury and instead set her sights on medalling at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.[8] She jumped 2.01 m at the European Championships in Barcelona, but she was beaten by Vlašić (who equalled the championship record) and also by Emma Green on count-back, leaving her with the bronze medal. She became the first German woman to win at the Internationales Hochsprung-Meeting Eberstadt a month later.[9]

On 22 December 2010 she ruptured her left Achilles tendon during training and was ruled out of the entire 2011 season including the World Championships in Daegu.[10]

She failed to make the final at the 2012 London Olympic Games, finishing 14th in the Qualifying Rounds. In September 2014, she gave birth to a baby girl. She came back to the competition in January 2016, after almost four years. She jumped for her first competition 1,87 m.

Personal bests

Event Best (m) Venue Date
High jump (outdoor) 2.06 Berlin, Germany 14 June 2009
High jump (indoor) 2.05 Karlsruhe, Germany 15 February 2009
  • All information taken from IAAF profile.

Competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
2003 European Junior Championships Tampere, Finland 1st 1.88 m
2004 European Cup Bydgoszcz, Poland 3rd 1.92 m
2005 European Cup Florence, Italy 7th 1.85 m
European U23 Championships Erfurt, Germany 3rd 1.90 m
Universiade İzmir, Turkey 3rd 1.88 m
2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 11th (q) 1.87 m (xxo)
Universiade Bangkok, Thailand 2nd 1.90 m (o)
2008 European Indoor Cup Moscow, Russia 1st 2.00 m
World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 8th 1.93 (xo)
Olympic Games Beijing, China 4th 1.96 m (o)
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 4th 1.97 m
2009 European Indoor Championships Turin, Italy 1st 2.01 m (o)
European Team Championships Leiria, Portugal 1st 2.02 m
Universiade Belgrade, Serbia 1st 2.00 m (o)
World Championships Berlin, Germany 2nd 2.02 m (xxo)
2010 European Team Championships Bergen, Norway 3rd 1.98 m (xxo)
European Championships Barcelona, Spain 3rd 2.01 m (xxo)
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 14th (q) 1.93 m (xxo)
  • Results with a Q, indicate overall position in qualifying round.

See also

References

  1. ^ Powell, David (14 June 2009). "For Friedrich, simply a 'Wow!' day - ÅF Golden League". IAAF. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Facebook Fight in Germany Leads to Battle Over Privacy". nytimes.com.
  3. ^ Sportlerin Friedrich verteidigt Outing eines Stalkers, Der Spiegel
  4. ^ London 2012: German athlete Ariane Friedrich names 'stalker' online, BBC News, 25 April 2012
  5. ^ European Junior Championships (Women) - GBR Athletics
  6. ^ Landells, Steve (2009-02-28). Friedrich's massive PBs open door to new ambitions. IAAF. Retrieved on 4 June 2010.
  7. ^ Ramsak, Bob (14 June 2009). "Friedrich Fireworks! 2.06m leap in Berlin - ÅF Golden League". IAAF. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  8. ^ Ariane Friedrich: Barcelona is as important for me as it was Berlin[permanent dead link]. European Athletics (5 May 2010). Retrieved on 4 June 2010.
  9. ^ Wenig, Jörg (2010-08-30). Spank and Friedrich take home wins in Eberstadt, Harting impresses at Throws meeting in Neubrandenburg – German weekend wrap Archived 2010-08-31 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-08-30.
  10. ^ Monsters and Critics (2010-12-28) Friedrich hopes for 2012 Olympics after Achilles tendon rupture Retrieved on 2010-12-29.