Athlete profile: Peter Adeberg

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

Athlete notes

Call him "Speed Skater M.D.", Peter Adeberg is taking a year off from his medical studies to prepare for Nagano...his odd distance specialties make it difficult for him to compete in the various World Championship events, so he needs all the high level competition he can get...Adeberg is neither a sprinter nor an endurance skater, making him inneffective at both the World Sprints and the World All-Arounds...the last two years he has been a substitute at the sprints, and he has not been a full competitor at either World Championship Events since 1991 when he finished ninth at both the sprints and all-arounds..."He's been around for a long time," says U.S. distance coach Gerard Kemkers. "He's been a little flat over the last few years. He's been stuck. But he can perform one good race"...Adeberg is capable of surprising on any given day...in Albertville, Adeberg was .12 seconds away from a medal and just .19 seconds away from a gold in the 1,000 meter Events...bothered by a strained groin muscle, he finished fifth..."Without the injury, I could have gotten a medal," he says. "It's hard"...in Lillehammer, he went at it again, this time placing sixth in the 1,500 meters, though he was over a second off the pace..."It was forgotten," he says of the Olympics. "There is no time to think of failure"...perhaps that is because he has the study of anatomy to occupy his thoughts outside of skating...Peter is a medical student at Berlin's prestigious Humboldt University, located in the famous Stadtmitte (city center) of Berlin's eastern half...for a while, Peter would attend classes for two hours in the morning, break for three hours of training and return for two hours in the afternoon...with his eye on becoming an orthopedic surgeon, the everyday studying took its toll...so this season, Adeberg decided to take a break from his studies to prepare for the upcoming Games...he has been very happy with the results so far this winter...he set a German record earlier this fall in the 1,500 meter in 1:51.25 breaking his own mark of 1:51.49... "I've improved my time by over three seconds (this fall)," said the excited Adeberg after the World Cup Events in Heerenveen, Holland. "That is 40 meters more"...in each World Cup Adeberg finished in the top eight ...with the break from his classes, Adeberg has a new-found focus..."It has already paid-off, that I took some time off from my studies in medicine in preparation for the Olympics," says Adeberg. "I am a lot freer in my head and I can hang again with the World's top skaters"...some German skating observers feel he has an outside chance at a medal..."I think finishing top five is a realistic placement for Adeberg," says speed skating journalist Christiane Mannfeld...at 6'1", 165 lbs. Adeberg is somewhat slender for his height...he often gives up 10 or so pounds to his more-muscular competitors...Dutch distance skater Ids Postma, for example, weighs almost 200 pounds...Peter's younger sister, Ulrike (ool-REE-kuh), won the 1989 and 1990 World Junior All-Arounds, but has not matched that success in the seniors...Ulrike, two years his younger, will most likely travel to Nagano, fourth on the depth chart among the German women distance skaters...they both train out of Berlin with coach Joachim Franke...Peter encouraged Ulrike to try speed skating, but it was Peter's parents who nudged him into sports..."We always said, ‘For a child to develop normally, it should go in for sports,'" says their mother Sabine (sah-BEE-nuh)...their father, Volkmar, played tennis for a sports club in Schkopau, East Germany...Peter's introduction to sports came in the swimming pool...he later moved to tennis and roller skating, which sparked his interest in speed skating...as an 11-year-old, he began commuting 45 minutes each way by street car to skate at the TC Halle sports club near the family home in Schkopau..."Peter would come home and tell his sister, ‘Rike, you should come with me, it's fun!'" remembers Sabine...in 1981 Peter moved to Berlin to train at the renowned TSC Berlin sports club...two years later Ulrike followed her older brother to TSC...the siblings' proximity to each other helped cure any homesickness..."They understand each other well," says Sabine Adeberg, an elementary school teacher. "They can speak to each other in a direct manner. But they are different. Peter is liberal and generous. Ulrike is the opposite. She is accurate and orderly"...Peter's chosen method of transport in Berlin is his bicycle..."My bike is my car," he says...Adeberg speaks English...