Stephan Freigang

Stephan Timo Freigang (born 27 September 1967, in Hohenleipisch, Brandenburg) 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 has represented SC DHfK Leipzig and has trained under Karl-Heinz Baumback 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

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing East Germany
1986	World Junior Championships	Athens, Greece	4th	10,000m	29:53.52
1986	World Junior Championships	Athens, Greece	4th	20 km road run	1:04:52
Representing Germany
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	3rd	Marathon	2:14:00
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	10th	10,000m	28:15.98
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.	—	Marathon	DNF
1998	European Championships	Budapest, Hungary	24th	Marathon	2:17:24

Marathons

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
1987	Budapest Marathon	Budapest, Hungary	1st	2:14:34
1988	Fukuoka Marathon	Fukuoka, Japan	8th	2:12:28
1990	Berlin Marathon	Berlin, Germany	4th	2:09:45
1991	Palermo Marathon	Palermo, Italy	1st	2:12:00
1993	Frankfurt Marathon	Frankfurt, Germany	1st	2:11:53
1995	Tokyo Marathon	Tokyo, Japan	2nd	2:10:12
1997	Cologne Marathon	Cologne, Germany	1st	2:11:58
1998	Frankfurt Marathon	Frankfurt, Germany	1st	2:12:58
1998	Hanover Marathon	Hanover, Germany	1st	2:12:16
1999	Hanover Marathon	Hanover, Germany	1st	2:13:48
2001	Leipzig Marathon	Leipzig, Germany	1st	2:15:57
2001	Lisbon Marathon	Lisbon, Portugal	1st	2:14:27
2002	Leipzig Marathon	Leipzig, Germany	2nd	2:20:11