Silke Spiegelburg
Encyclopedia
Silke Spiegelburg (born 17 March 1986 in Georgsmarienhütte
, Lower Saxony
) is a German
pole vault
er. She is the younger sister of Richard Spiegelburg
. She represented Germany at the Summer Olympics in 2004 and 2008, as well as having competed at the World Championships in Athletics. She is a European silver medal
list in the event both indoors and outdoors.
Spiegelburg showed her talent for the event from a young age, winning the World Youth title in 2001 before becoming the European Junior
champion two years later. She competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics at the age of eighteen and set a world junior record for the pole vault in 2005. She is a two-time national champion in the event and holds the German indoor record
with her mark of 4.76 metres.
with a height of 4.00 metres. She reached the final of the event at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics
the following year, but managed only eighth place. Success came at the 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships
, however, as she took the gold medal
with a clearance of 4.15 m. She made her Olympic debut the following year at the 2004 Athens Games
and qualified for the final with a vault of 4.40 m, but she did not reach that height in the final round and ended the competition in thirteenth place. She set a world junior record mark in the pole vault in August 2005, clearing 4.48 m in Münster
.
Spiegelburg reached the final at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships
and went on to finish sixth in the pole vault final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg
. She twice achieved marks of 4.56 m on the European circuit that season and came sixth at the end of year 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final
. In 2007 she improved her indoor best to 4.50 m and came fifth at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships. She also made her debut at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics
, but did not get past the qualifying stage. She ended the year with a personal best of 4.60 m at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final
.
Her 2008 was somewhat of a breakthrough as she reached 4.70 m for the first time in July 2008 at the Golden Gala
. This ranked her joint second among German pole vaulters, behind Annika Becker
, and tied with Yvonne Buschbaum. She came seventh at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
and equalled her outdoor best at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final
to take the gold medal
.
She claimed her first medal at continental level at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships – she was runner-up on countback to Yuliya Golubchikova
but took the silver medal
with a German indoor record
mark of 4.75 m. She won the bronze medal
at the 2009 European Team Championships
in June and went on to claim the national pole vault title at the 2009 German Athletics Championships
the following month. This gained her a berth at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
, where she cleared 4.65 m – the second highest performance – but ended up in fourth place by merit of countback. She equalled her outdoor best of 4.70 m at the Memorial van Damme
, taking third place, but managed only sixth at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final
.
In the 2010 outdoor season Spiegelburg started with a win at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix
– the first stop on the inaugural 2010 IAAF Diamond League
. She was narrowly defeated by Svetlana Feofanova
at the 2010 European Team Championships
, but then beat Lisa Ryzih to claim another national title at the German Championships
. She was behind Feofanova at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, but was also ahead of Ryzih, and she left the competition with a European silver medal. She also improved her outdoor best to 4.71 m that season.
She started her 2011 season well with a new national indoor record of 4.76 m at the BW-Bank Meeting
in Karlsruhe
.Records tumble in Karlsruhe, Spiegelburg clears 4.76m. European Athletics (2011-02-14). Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
At the 2011 European Team Championship she improved her outdoor personal best to 4.75 metres.
Georgsmarienhütte
Georgsmarienhütte is a town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teutoburg Forest, approx. 7 km south of Osnabrück.- History :...
, Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
) is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
er. She is the younger sister of Richard Spiegelburg
Richard Spiegelburg
Richard Spiegelburg is a German pole vaulter. He is the older brother of Silke Spiegelburg....
. She represented Germany at the Summer Olympics in 2004 and 2008, as well as having competed at the World Championships in Athletics. She is a European silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
list in the event both indoors and outdoors.
Spiegelburg showed her talent for the event from a young age, winning the World Youth title in 2001 before becoming the European Junior
European Athletics Junior Championships
The European Athletics Junior Championships are the European championships open for those of age. The IAAF defines Junior as athletes who are 19 years of age or under. It is currently organized by the European Athletic Association....
champion two years later. She competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics at the age of eighteen and set a world junior record for the pole vault in 2005. She is a two-time national champion in the event and holds the German indoor record
German records in athletics
The following are the national records in athletics in Germany maintained by its national athletics federation, Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband ....
with her mark of 4.76 metres.
Career
She won the pole vault at the 2001 World Youth Championships2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics
The 2001 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the second edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics. It was held in Debrecen, Hungary from July 12 to July 15, 2001. -Boys:-Girls:-Medals table:...
with a height of 4.00 metres. She reached the final of the event at the 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics
2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics
The 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2002 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica from July 16 to July 21, 2002.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...
the following year, but managed only eighth place. Success came at the 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships
2003 European Athletics Junior Championships
The 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships was held in Tampere, Finland from 23–27 July 2003. A total of 44 events were contested; 22 by men and 22 by women. Germany had the biggest medal haul with nine golds and a total of 27, closely followed by Russia . Great Britain was third with 17...
, however, as she took the gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
with a clearance of 4.15 m. She made her Olympic debut the following year at the 2004 Athens Games
Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, the athletics events were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 18 to August 29, except for the marathons , the race walks , and the shot put...
and qualified for the final with a vault of 4.40 m, but she did not reach that height in the final round and ended the competition in thirteenth place. She set a world junior record mark in the pole vault in August 2005, clearing 4.48 m in Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
.
Spiegelburg reached the final at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships
2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena....
and went on to finish sixth in the pole vault final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. She twice achieved marks of 4.56 m on the European circuit that season and came sixth at the end of year 2006 IAAF World Athletics Final
2006 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 4th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 9 and September 10, 2006.-Results:-External links:*...
. In 2007 she improved her indoor best to 4.50 m and came fifth at the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships. She also made her debut at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...
, but did not get past the qualifying stage. She ended the year with a personal best of 4.60 m at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final
2007 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007.-Men:- Women :-External links:*...
.
Her 2008 was somewhat of a breakthrough as she reached 4.70 m for the first time in July 2008 at the Golden Gala
Golden Gala
Golden Gala is an annual track and field event at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League.-History:...
. This ranked her joint second among German pole vaulters, behind Annika Becker
Annika Becker
Annika Becker is a retired German pole vaulter.Her personal best is 4.77 metres, achieved in July 2002 in Wattenscheid. This was the German national record until 12 July 2011.-Achievements:-External links:...
, and tied with Yvonne Buschbaum. She came seventh at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...
and equalled her outdoor best at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final
2008 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008.A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting points around the Stuttgart area and the distances varied...
to take the gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
.
She claimed her first medal at continental level at the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships – she was runner-up on countback to Yuliya Golubchikova
Yuliya Golubchikova
Yuliya Golubchikova is a Russian pole vaulter.Golubchikova's personal best jump is 4.75 metres, achieved at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing where she ended on a fourth place . She has 4.75 metres indoor.-Achievements:-External links:* *...
but took the silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
with a German indoor record
German records in athletics
The following are the national records in athletics in Germany maintained by its national athletics federation, Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband ....
mark of 4.75 m. She won the bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
at the 2009 European Team Championships
2009 European Team Championships
The first SPAR European Team Championships took place on 20 and 21 June 2009. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008...
in June and went on to claim the national pole vault title at the 2009 German Athletics Championships
2009 German Athletics Championships
The 2009 German Athletics Championships were held at the Donaustadion in Ulm on 4–5 July 2009.- Men :- Women :- References :* Results source: - External links :*...
the following month. This gained her a berth at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
, where she cleared 4.65 m – the second highest performance – but ended up in fourth place by merit of countback. She equalled her outdoor best of 4.70 m at the Memorial van Damme
Memorial Van Damme
Memorial van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium that takes place in late August or early September...
, taking third place, but managed only sixth at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final
2009 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics meetings which began on September 20, 2008 at the...
.
In the 2010 outdoor season Spiegelburg started with a win at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix
Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix
The Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix is an annual athletics event at the Qatar SC Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League. It was first organized in 1997.-Men:-Women:...
– the first stop on the inaugural 2010 IAAF Diamond League
2010 IAAF Diamond League
The 2010 IAAF Diamond League was the first edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 14 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 27 August in Brussels, Belgium....
. She was narrowly defeated by Svetlana Feofanova
Svetlana Feofanova
Svetlana Yevgenyevna Feofanova is a Russian pole vaulter. She won the silver medal in women's pole vaulting at the 2004 Summer Olympics behind compatriot Yelena Isinbayeva, and won the bronze in the 2008 Summer Olympics...
at the 2010 European Team Championships
2010 European Team Championships
The second SPAR European Team Championships took place on 19 and 20 June 2010. The track and field athletics tournament run by European Athletics was the successor of the old European Cup competition which was held annually until 2008....
, but then beat Lisa Ryzih to claim another national title at the German Championships
2010 German Athletics Championships
The 2010 German Athletics Championships were held at the Eintracht-Stadion in Braunschweig on 17–18 July 2010.- Men :- Women :- References :* Results source: - External links :*...
. She was behind Feofanova at the 2010 European Athletics Championships, but was also ahead of Ryzih, and she left the competition with a European silver medal. She also improved her outdoor best to 4.71 m that season.
She started her 2011 season well with a new national indoor record of 4.76 m at the BW-Bank Meeting
BW-Bank Meeting
The BW-Bank Meeting is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in January or February in Karlsruhe, Germany. The meeting was first held at the Europahalle in 1985 and is currently an IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting...
in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
.Records tumble in Karlsruhe, Spiegelburg clears 4.76m. European Athletics (2011-02-14). Retrieved on 2011-02-14.
At the 2011 European Team Championship she improved her outdoor personal best to 4.75 metres.