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{{short description|German speed skater}}
{{MedalTableTop|Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1982-1120-002, Karin Enke.jpg|220px}}
{{BLP sources|date=July 2016}}
{{MedalSport | Women’s [[Speed skating at the Winter Olympics|Speed Skating]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
⚫
{{MedalCountry | {{GDR}} }}
⚫
{{MedalCompetition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold |[[1980 Winter Olympics|1980 Lake Placid]] | 500 m}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]] | 500 m}}
{{MedalGold |[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]] | 1,000 m}}
{{MedalGold |[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]] | 1,500 m}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]] | 3,000 m}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1988 Winter Olympics|1988 Calgary]] | 500 m}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1988 Winter Olympics|1988 Calgary]] | 1,000 m}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1988 Winter Olympics|1988 Calgary]] | 1,500 m}}
{{MedalBottom}}


{{Infobox sportsperson
'''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 skating|speed skater]], one of the most dominant ones of the 1980s.
⚫
|name=Karin Enke
|image=Karin Kania (GDR).jpg
|caption=Enke in 1983
|headercolor = #d7ecff
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1961|6|20|df=y}}
|birth_place=[[Dresden]], [[East Germany]]
|death_date=
|death_place=
| height = {{convert|1.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| weight = {{convert|72|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
|sport=[[Speed skating]]
|club=SC Einheit Dresden
|alma_mater=
| show-medals = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{Medal|Sport|Women's [[speed skating]]}}
⚫
{{Medal|Country|{{GDR}}}}
⚫
{{Medal|Competition|[[Olympic Games]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1980 Winter Olympics|1980 Lake Placid]]|[[Speed skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres|500 m]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]]|[[Speed skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics – Women's 1000 metres|1000 m]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]]|[[Speed skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics – Women's 1500 metres|1500 m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]]|[[Speed skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres|500 m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1984 Winter Olympics|1984 Sarajevo]]|[[Speed skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics – Women's 3000 metres|3000 m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1988 Winter Olympics|1988 Calgary]]|[[Speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics – Women's 1000 metres|1000 m]]}}
{{Medal|Silver|[[1988 Winter Olympics|1988 Calgary]]|[[Speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics – Women's 1500 metres|1500 m]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze|[[1988 Winter Olympics|1988 Calgary]]|[[Speed skating at the 1988 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres|500 m]]}}
⚫
}}

'''Karin Voss''' ({{née}} '''Enke''', formerly '''Busch''', '''Kania''' and '''Richter'''; born 20 June 1961) is a former [[Speed skating|speed skater]], one of the most dominant of the 1980s. She is a three-time Olympic gold medallist, winning the 500 metres in 1980, the 1000 metres in 1984 and the 1500 metres in 1984. She won a total of eight Olympic medals, representing [[East Germany at the Olympics|East Germany]].


==Short biography==
==Short biography==
Karin Enke started her sport career as a figure skater at the club SC Einheit [[Dresden]]. Representing East-Germany she came in 9th place at the [[European Figure Skating Championships]] in 1977. Later she changed to speed skating.
Karin Enke started her sport career as a figure skater at the club SC Einheit [[Dresden]]. Representing East Germany she came in ninth place at the [[European Figure Skating Championships]] in 1977. Later she changed to speed skating.
Dominant on all distances (being reigning [[World Allround Speed Skating Championships|World Allround Champion]] and [[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|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 [[Speed Skating World Cup|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.
Dominant on all distances (being reigning [[World Allround Speed Skating Championships|World Allround Champion]] and [[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|World Sprint Champion]], and having won German Single Distance Championships titles on all five distances in 1983), Enke was the favourite for all four distances at the [[1984 Winter Olympics]] of [[Sarajevo]], but she won "only" two gold and two silver medals.<ref name=r1/> At the [[Speed Skating World Cup|World Cup]], Enke had 21 single-distance victories, but won only one overall World Cup. She retired from speed skating after the 1987–88 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 &ndash; Rudolf Kania &ndash; 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''.
Born as ''Karin Enke'', she married in 1981 and competed as ''Karin Busch'' during the 1981–82 winter. The marriage did not last long and during the 1982–83 and 1983–84 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 &ndash; a skater with a name unfamiliar to them &ndash; 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 Niemann-Stirnemann|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.
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&mdash;a skater with a name unfamiliar to them&mdash;suddenly won major titles in her "first" 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 Niemann-Stirnemann|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.


==Doping use==
==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 [[Stasi]]-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.").<ref>[http://www.sportweek.nl/schaatsen/123603/Raadsel_rondom_Van_Gennip_en_DDR-vrouwen_opgelost "Raadsel rondom Van Gennip en DDR-vrouwen opgelost"] Sportweek, 3 januari 2010</ref>
On 3 January 2010, Giselher Spitzer, a German sport historian and researcher of the [[Humboldt University of Berlin]], claimed 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 [[Stasi]]-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.").<ref>[http://www.sportweek.nl/schaatsen/123603/Raadsel_rondom_Van_Gennip_en_DDR-vrouwen_opgelost "Raadsel rondom Van Gennip en DDR-vrouwen opgelost"] Sportweek, 3 January 2010.</ref>


==Medals==
==Medals==
[[File:Karin Enke 1983.jpg|thumb|250px|Karin Enke at the European Championships in 1983]]
An overview of medals won by Enke at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:
An overview of medals won by Enke at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:


Line 33: Line 53:
| align=center bgcolor=gold | '''Gold medal''' || align=center bgcolor=silver | '''Silver medal''' || align=center bgcolor=cc9966 | '''Bronze medal'''
| align=center bgcolor=gold | '''Gold medal''' || align=center bgcolor=silver | '''Silver medal''' || align=center bgcolor=cc9966 | '''Bronze medal'''
|- align="center"
|- align="center"
| align="left" | [[Speed skating at the Winter Olympics|Winter Olympics]] || 1980 (500 m) <br> 1984 (1,000 m) <br> 1984 (1,500 m) || 1984 (500 m) <br> 1984 (3,000 m) <br> 1988 (1,000 m) <br> 1988 (1,500 m) || 1988 (500 m)
| align="left" | [[Speed skating at the Winter Olympics|Winter Olympics]] || 1980 (500 m) <br> 1984 (1000 m) <br> 1984 (1500 m) || 1984 (500 m) <br> 1984 (3000 m) <br> 1988 (1000 m) <br> 1988 (1500 m) || 1988 (500 m)
|- align="center"
|- align="center"
| align="left" | [[World Allround Speed Skating Championships|World Allround]] || 1982 <br> 1984 <br> 1986 <br> 1987 <br> 1988 || 1981 <br> 1983 ||
| align="left" | [[World Allround Speed Skating Championships|World Allround]] || 1982 <br> 1984 <br> 1986 <br> 1987 <br> 1988 || 1981 <br> 1983 ||
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| align="left" | [[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|World Sprint]] || 1980 <br> 1981 <br> 1983 <br> 1984 <br> 1986 <br> 1987 || 1982 <br> 1988 ||
| align="left" | [[World Sprint Speed Skating Championships|World Sprint]] || 1980 <br> 1981 <br> 1983 <br> 1984 <br> 1986 <br> 1987 || 1982 <br> 1988 ||
|- align="center"
|- align="center"
| align="left" | [[Speed Skating World Cup|World Cup]] || 1986 (1,000 m) || 1986 (500 m) <br> 1986 (1,500 m) <br> 1988 (1,000 m) || 1986 (3,000/5,000 m) <br> 1988 (500 m) <br> 1988 (1,500 m) <br> 1988 (3,000/5,000 m)
| align="left" | [[Speed Skating World Cup|World Cup]] || 1986 (1000 m) || 1986 (500 m) <br> 1986 (1500 m) <br> 1988 (1000 m) || 1986 (3000/5000 m) <br> 1988 (500 m) <br> 1988 (1500 m) <br> 1988 (3000/5000 m)
|- align="center"
|- align="center"
| align="left" | [[European Speed Skating Championships|European Allround]] || || 1981 <br> 1982 <br> 1983 ||
| align="left" | [[European Speed Skating Championships|European Allround]] || || 1981 <br> 1982 <br> 1983 ||
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| align="left" | German Sprint || 1984 <br> 1986 || 1983 ||
| align="left" | German Sprint || 1984 <br> 1986 || 1983 ||
|- align="center"
|- align="center"
| align="left" | German Single Distance || 1980 (1,000 m) <br> 1983 (500 m) <br> 1983 (1,000 m) <br> 1983 (1,500 m) <br> 1983 (3,000 m) <br> 1983 (5,000 m) <br> 1984 (500 m) <br> 1984 (1,000 m) <br> 1984 (1,500 m) <br> 1986 (1,000 m) <br> 1987 (500 m) <br> 1988 (1,000 m) <br> 1988 (1,500 m) || 1980 (1,500 m) <br> 1986 (500 m) <br> 1986 (1,500 m) <br> 1986 (3,000 m) <br> 1988 (500 m) || 1980 (500 m)
| align="left" | German Single Distance || 1980 (1000 m) <br> 1983 (500 m) <br> 1983 (1000 m) <br> 1983 (1500 m) <br> 1983 (3000 m) <br> 1983 (5000 m) <br> 1984 (500 m) <br> 1984 (1000 m) <br> 1984 (1500 m) <br> 1986 (1000 m) <br> 1987 (500 m) <br> 1988 (1000 m) <br> 1988 (1500 m) || 1980 (1500 m) <br> 1986 (500 m) <br> 1986 (1500 m) <br> 1986 (3000 m) <br> 1988 (500 m) || 1980 (500 m)
|}
|}


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|[[Samalog|Mini combination]]||168.271||14 February 1982||align="left"|[[Eisstadion Inzell|Inzell]]
|[[Samalog|Mini combination]]||168.271||14 February 1982||align="left"|[[Eisstadion Inzell|Inzell]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|1,500 m||2:03.42||9 February 1984||align="left"|[[Olympic Hall Zetra|Sarajevo]]
|1500 m||2:03.42||9 February 1984||align="left"|[[Olympic Hall Zetra|Sarajevo]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|1,000 m||1:18.84||22 February 1986||align="left"|[[Karuizawa]]
|1000 m||1:18.84||22 February 1986||align="left"|[[Karuizawa]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|[[Samalog|Sprint combination]]||160.060||23 February 1986||align="left"|[[Karuizawa]]
|[[Samalog|Sprint combination]]||160.060||23 February 1986||align="left"|[[Karuizawa]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|1,500 m||2:02.23||6 March 1986||align="left"|[[Eisstadion Inzell|Inzell]]
|1500 m||2:02.23||6 March 1986||align="left"|[[Eisstadion Inzell|Inzell]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|3,000 m||4:18.02||21 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]
|3000 m||4:18.02||21 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|500 m||39.52||21 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]
|500 m||39.52||21 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|1,500 m||1:59.30||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]
|1500 m||1:59.30||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|[[Samalog|Mini combination]]||168.387||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Eisstadion Inzell|Inzell]]
|[[Samalog|Mini combination]]||168.387||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Eisstadion Inzell|Inzell]]
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|1,000 m||1:18.11||5 December 1987||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]
|1000 m||1:18.11||5 December 1987||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]
|}
|}


==Personal records==
==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.
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.<ref name=r1/>


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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|500 m||39.24||22 February 1988||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]||39.39
|500 m||39.24||22 February 1988||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]||39.39
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|1,000 m||1:17.70||26 February 1988||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]||1:18.11
|1000 m||1:17.70||26 February 1988||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]||1:18.11
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|1,500 m||1:59.30||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||2:02.23
|1500 m||1:59.30||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||2:02.23
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|3,000 m||4:17.76||5 December 1987||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]||4:16.85
|3000 m||4:17.76||5 December 1987||align="left"|[[Olympic Oval|Calgary]]||4:16.85
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|5,000 m||7:39.82||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||7:31.45
|5000 m||7:39.82||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||7:31.45
|- align="right"
|- align="right"
|[[Samalog|Small combination]]||168.272||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||171.760
|[[Samalog|Small combination]]||168.272||22 March 1986||align="left"|[[Medeo]]||171.760
Line 102: Line 122:
|}
|}


Note that Enke's personal record on the 500&nbsp;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&nbsp;m was not a world record either because (again at the same 1988 Winter Olympics) [[Christa Rothenburger]] skated 1:17.65 &ndash; 0.05 seconds faster.
Note that Enke's personal record on the 500&nbsp;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 1000&nbsp;m was not a world record either because (again at the same 1988 Winter Olympics) [[Christa Luding-Rothenburger|Christa Rothenburger]] skated 1:17.65 &ndash; 0.05 seconds faster.


==References==
==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=r1>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417103046/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/en/karin-enke-kania-1.html Karin Enke-Kania]. sports-reference.com</ref>
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.skateresults.com/skater/show/243 Karin Enke at SkateResults.com]
*[http://www.skateresults.com/skater/show/243 Karin Enke at SkateResults.com]
*[http://www.desg.de/skater.php?anzeige=skater&skater=255 Karin Enke at DESG (''Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft'')] (in German)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070224094934/http://www.desg.de/skater.php?anzeige=skater&skater=255 Karin Enke at DESG (''Deutsche Eisschnelllauf Gemeinschaft'')] (in German)


{{Footer Olympic Champions 500m Speed Skating Women}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 500m Speed Skating Women}}
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{{Adelskalender leaders women}}
{{Adelskalender leaders women}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Enke, Karin
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Speed skater
| DATE OF BIRTH = 20 June 1961
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
⚫
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enke, Karin}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enke, Karin}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:German female single skaters]]
[[Category:German female single skaters]]
[[Category:German speed skaters]]
[[Category:German female speed skaters]]
⚫
[[Category:Olympic speed skaters of East Germany]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics]]
⚫
[[Category:Olympic speed skaters for East Germany]]
[[Category:East German female speed skaters]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in speed skating]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Olympic bronze medalists for East Germany]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in speed skating]]
[[Category:World record setters in speed skating]]
[[Category:Former world record holders in speed skating]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Dresden]]
[[Category:Female speed skaters]]
[[Category:World Allround Speed Skating Championships medalists]]

⚫
[[ca:Karin Enke]]
[[cs:Karin Enkeová]]
[[de:Karin Enke]]
[[fa:کارین انکه]]
[[nl:Karin Enke]]
[[no:Karin Enke]]
[[ro:Karin Enke]]
[[ru:Энке, Карин]]
[[fi:Karin Enke]]
[[sv:Karin Enke]]

Latest revision as of 06:14, 28 October 2024

Karin Enke
Enke in 1983
Personal information
Born (1961-06-20) 20 June 1961 (age 63)
Dresden, East Germany
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
SportSpeed skating
ClubSC Einheit Dresden
Medal record
Women's speed skating
Representing  East Germany
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1980 Lake Placid 500 m
Gold medal – first place 1984 Sarajevo 1000 m
Gold medal – first place 1984 Sarajevo 1500 m
Silver medal – second place 1984 Sarajevo 500 m
Silver medal – second place 1984 Sarajevo 3000 m
Silver medal – second place 1988 Calgary 1000 m
Silver medal – second place 1988 Calgary 1500 m
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Calgary 500 m

Karin Voss (née Enke, formerly Busch, Kania and Richter; born 20 June 1961) is a former speed skater, one of the most dominant of the 1980s. She is a three-time Olympic gold medallist, winning the 500 metres in 1980, the 1000 metres in 1984 and the 1500 metres in 1984. She won a total of eight Olympic medals, representing East Germany.

Short biography

[edit]

Karin Enke started her sport career as a figure skater at the club SC Einheit Dresden. Representing East Germany she came in ninth 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 five distances in 1983), Enke was the favourite for all four distances at the 1984 Winter Olympics of Sarajevo, but she won "only" two gold and two silver medals.[1] At the World Cup, Enke had 21 single-distance victories, but won only one overall World Cup. She retired from speed skating after the 1987–88 season.

Born as Karin Enke, she married in 1981 and competed as Karin Busch during the 1981–82 winter. The marriage did not last long and during the 1982–83 and 1983–84 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. 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.

Doping use

[edit]

On 3 January 2010, Giselher Spitzer, a German sport historian and researcher of the Humboldt University of Berlin, claimed 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 Stasi-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.").[2]

Medals

[edit]
Karin Enke at the European Championships in 1983

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 1980 (500 m)
1984 (1000 m)
1984 (1500 m)		 1984 (500 m)
1984 (3000 m)
1988 (1000 m)
1988 (1500 m)		 1988 (500 m)
World Allround 1982
1984
1986
1987
1988		 1981
1983
World Sprint 1980
1981
1983
1984
1986
1987		 1982
1988
World Cup 1986 (1000 m) 1986 (500 m)
1986 (1500 m)
1988 (1000 m)		 1986 (3000/5000 m)
1988 (500 m)
1988 (1500 m)
1988 (3000/5000 m)
European Allround 1981
1982
1983
German Allround 1982
1983
German Sprint 1984
1986		 1983
German Single Distance 1980 (1000 m)
1983 (500 m)
1983 (1000 m)
1983 (1500 m)
1983 (3000 m)
1983 (5000 m)
1984 (500 m)
1984 (1000 m)
1984 (1500 m)
1986 (1000 m)
1987 (500 m)
1988 (1000 m)
1988 (1500 m)		 1980 (1500 m)
1986 (500 m)
1986 (1500 m)
1986 (3000 m)
1988 (500 m)		 1980 (500 m)

World records

[edit]

Over the course of her career, Enke skated 10 world records:

Distance Result Date Location
Mini combination 168.271 14 February 1982 Inzell
1500 m 2:03.42 9 February 1984 Sarajevo
1000 m 1:18.84 22 February 1986 Karuizawa
Sprint combination 160.060 23 February 1986 Karuizawa
1500 m 2:02.23 6 March 1986 Inzell
3000 m 4:18.02 21 March 1986 Medeo
500 m 39.52 21 March 1986 Medeo
1500 m 1:59.30 22 March 1986 Medeo
Mini combination 168.387 22 March 1986 Inzell
1000 m 1:18.11 5 December 1987 Calgary

Personal records

[edit]

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.[1]

Distance Result Date Location WR
500 m 39.24 22 February 1988 Calgary 39.39
1000 m 1:17.70 26 February 1988 Calgary 1:18.11
1500 m 1:59.30 22 March 1986 Medeo 2:02.23
3000 m 4:17.76 5 December 1987 Calgary 4:16.85
5000 m 7:39.82 22 March 1986 Medeo 7:31.45
Small combination 168.272 22 March 1986 Medeo 171.760
Mini combination 168.271 14 February 1982 Inzell 168.387
Sprint combination 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 skated 39.10 at the same tournament (the 1988 Winter Olympics). Enke's personal record on the 1000 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.

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karin Enke.
  1. ^ a b Karin Enke-Kania. sports-reference.com
  2. ^ "Raadsel rondom Van Gennip en DDR-vrouwen opgelost" Sportweek, 3 January 2010.
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