Athlete profile: Frank Dittrich

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

Nearly a surprise medalist in the 5,000 meters in Albertville, Dittrich finished fourth back in 1992, a second and a half behind the Netherlands' bronze medalist Leo Visser..."I had hoped for a top-10 finish," said Dittrich after the '92 Olympics. "That was my greatest race. Can I skate like that again?"...the answer is a resounding yes, though it has taken him several years...in Lillehammer, Dittrich skated two solid, but unimpressive races cruising to a sixth and an eighth-place finish in the long distances...last year though, Dittrich had one of his best years on the oval...he won a bronze in the 5,000 meters at the World Single Distance Championships in Warsaw, Poland and then placed third overall in the World All-Arounds in Nagano, Japan...Dittrich was named Male Speed Skater of the Year at a national sports awards dinner in Germany..."He had a very good year last year and improved so much that he was competing for medals," says American all-around coach Gerard Kemkers. "And he's right back in there again this year. He's become more consistent"...early this winter he has recorded several top 10 results..."You can nvere count him out," says a German speed skating writer. "For the Olympics, he could make anywhere from third to eighth place"...training out of Chemnitz under coach Klaus Ebert, Dittrich does not have any other high profile skaters practicing with him, but he seems to enjoy that very much...Chemnitz is an old industrial city in the south of former East Germany, that used to be called Karl-Marx Stadt...Dittrich began skating at age nine after East German sports officials came into his classroom to recruit speed skaters...over 200 children from the school signed up for speed skating..."There were just a few who did not fall," recalls Frank. "I was very proud to stand up and I liked it"...at age 16, just five of the original 200 were left in the stringent East German program...now, only Frank is still skating...he is from the same hometown as two-time Olympic figure skating gold-medalist Katarina Witt..."I remember finishing weight training and then going to watch Katarina skate," says Frank. "I knew all of Katarina's programs"...Frank's father owns a firm that manufactures microelectronics and computer chips, "a western firm," as Frank puts it...Frank continues his profession as a banker, often skating after an eight-hour work day...in his free time, Frank says he loves music and cars...no more Wartburgs or Trabants anymore, Frank has been able to choose from western models for almost a decade now...Frank says the traveling part of speed skating really appeals to him...he does not speak much English...