Schöne, Andrea Mitscherlich (1961—)
Schöne, Andrea Mitscherlich (1961—)
East German speedskater. Name variations: Andrea Schoene or Andrea Schone; Andrea Mitscherlich; Andrea Ehrig. Born Andrea Mitscherlich in East Germany in 1961.
Won the world 3,000 meters (1983); won the Olympic silver in the 3,000 (1976); won the Olympic gold medal in the 3,000 (1984).
In two Olympic tries, speedskater Andrea Schöne could only claim one silver, acquired in Innsbruck in 1976 under her maiden name of Mitscherlich. That year, Tatiana Averina of the USSR walked home with the gold in the 1,000 and 3,000 meters, with Olympic records in both. At Sarajevo in 1984, Schöne, by then a 23-year-old nurse, finally won the gold medal in the 3,000 meters with a time of 4:24.79, beating an Olympic record set by Björg Eva Jensen of Norway in 1980. Schöne's teammate and longtime friend Karin Kania-Enke came in second for a silver, while teammate Gabi Schönbrunn (Zange) took the bronze. Schöne also won two silver medals in the 1,000 and the 1,500, both behind Kania-Enke. In 1988 in Calgary, under the name Andrea Ehrig, she took silvers in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters and a bronze in the 1,500 meters.