- Born
- Nicknames
- Franzi
- Gold-Franzi
- Height5′ 11¼″ (1.81 m)
- Franziska Van Almsick grew up in Berlin, where she became one of the biggest and youngest swimming talents of the former GDR. In 1992, she was the youngest participant of the then reunited German team and sensationally won a silver and a bronze medal. In 1994, she won the 200 metres freestyle World Championships in Rome. At that time, she became one of Germany`s most popular athletes and celebreties. After several disappointing years, where she couldn't fulfil the public's expectations, she managed a very successful comeback with 5 titles at the 2002 European Championships in Berlin. Over 200 metres freestyle, she broke her own world record in 1:56,64 seconds.- IMDb Mini Biography By: fippi2000
- Franziska van Almsick discovered swimming when she was just five years old. Her swimming talent was discovered and encouraged. At the age of seven, she became the youngest participant in the GDR's swimming training center, East Berlin, and was systematically developed. In 1989, as an eleven-year-old, she won a total of nine gold medals at the Spartakiade. After the reunification, Almsick came second best in the 200 meter freestyle, her favorite distance in the water, at the German Swimming Championships. This was followed by victory in the freestyle on the 100 meter course at the World Cup in Palma de Mallorca. This gave Almsick his ticket to the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. She also won the German championship title in the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly for the first time. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Almsick won two silver and two bronze medals. She came second in the 200-meter freestyle and in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay.
She achieved third place in the 100-meter freestyle and in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay. For the only fourteen-year-old athlete, these Olympic wins represented a great triumph. Experts, the media and the public now became aware of the young Berlin swimmer. As a result, Almsick swam extremely successfully from competition to competition. Her track record included six gold medals at the 1992 European Youth Championships in Leeds, England, and three gold medals at the European Sprint Championships in Espoo. In 1993 Almsick continued her successful swimming achievements. At the European Championships in Sheffield, England, she won six gold medals and one silver medal. She set three world bests at the Short Course World Cup in Beijing and Shanghai. She also won the World Cup in the freestyle sprint and five titles at the German Championships in Potsdam.
Almsick's sports career was officially recognized in the same year when she was named Sportswoman of the Year as well as European and World Athlete. In 1994, Almsick reached the highlight of her swimming career to date at the World Championships in Rome. In the eternal city, she not only swam the 200-meter freestyle distance as the fastest participant, but also set a new world record with a time of 1:56.78 minutes. She won silver in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay in Rome and a bronze medal in the 100 meter freestyle and the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay. In the same year she also achieved four victories at the national championships in Hanover. Then Almsick swam extremely successfully at the European Championships in Vienna in 1995. The athlete won a total of five gold medals in the disciplines of 100 meter freestyle, 400 meter freestyle, 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay and 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay as well as 4 x 100 meter medley. She took second place in the 50-meter freestyle.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, she only achieved second place behind Claudia Poll in her special discipline, the 200-meter freestyle. In Atlanta she also won a silver medal in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay and a bronze medal in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. After a long break from competition, Almsick returned in 1998. In the meantime, she had finally decided on sports and stopped her high school education. At the World Championships in Perth, Australia, the swimmer won gold in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. The following year she completed the European Championships in Istanbul with a gold medal in two freestyle relays and a silver medal in the medley relay. However, at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, for which she qualified at the German Championships, she sees herself in the semi-finals. She won bronze for her participation in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay.
During the training and competition year of 2001, a herniated disc prevented Almsick from returning to past glory days. In the first half of 2002 she qualified for the European Championships in Berlin at the German Championships. Almsick won a total of five gold medals: one gold each in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay and in the 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay, once gold in the 100 meter freestyle distance, and once gold in the medley relay, which she took part in the European record time of 4:01.54 seconds and once gold over the 200 meter distance. She improved her own eight-year-old world record with the new time of 1:56.64 seconds. Almsick also took first place in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle at the North German Championships in May 2003 in Berlin. She also achieved the same place in November of the same year at the German Short Course Championships won the 200-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly in Gelsenkirchen in 2003.
Almsick achieved first place three times, including in June 2004 in the 200-meter freestyle, the 100-meter freestyle and the 100-meter butterfly at the German Championships in Berlin. In the 4 x 100 meter freestyle at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the German team came fourth, while Almsick only came fifth in the 200 meter freestyle. The German team placed third in both the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay and the 4 x 100 meter medley relay. After the 2004 Olympics in Athens, she announced her retirement from professional sport. In the same year she published her autobiography under the title "Emerged". From mid-June 2005, van Almsick began her new sports journalistic work for the "Welt am Sonntag" and the "Berliner Morgenpost": she conducted a series of interviews with the "greatest German athletes" for the two papers.
From July 2005, the former swimmer appeared as a swimming expert on ARD during the TV broadcast of the World Championships in Montreal, Canada. Franziska van Almsick was in a relationship with the entrepreneur Jürgen B. Harder and lived in Heidelberg. Their children were born in 2006 and 2013. Harder was already the father of two children from his first marriage. From December 1, 2008, Franziska van Almsick was responsible for the sports department as deputy to the newly appointed CEO of Deutsche Sporthilfe, Werner E. Klatten.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Christian_Wolfgang_Barth
- Tries to win her first gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
- Was called "Franzi Van Speck" ("Speck" is German for bacon) after her disappointing results at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
- Participated at 4 Olympics from 1992 to 2004, but never won a gold medal.
- Gave birth to her first son Don Hugo on 7 January 2007. Gave birth to her second son Mo Vito in May 2013. Father is Jürgen B. Harder.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content