Athlete profile: Sabine Völker

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

Athlete notes

Völker has the bad luck of having a name similar to 1996 Summer Olympic medalist and German swimming star Sandra Völker...in fact, a few times in the past year the German press has mistakenly written her name as "Sandra," a mistake that Sabine has not taken very well..."She's thrown away those articles," laughs a German journalist, who says he has not made the identity mistake...on the ice, Völker lurks in the shadows of Franziska Schenk...though the two are not really friends, they probably gain more from each other than anyone else on the ice...the two skaters both train out of Erfurt under the watchful eye of coach Stephan Gneupel...he has the luxury of pushing two world class talents to their limits every day and seeing them push each other as well..."What they share is that they have a very strong training program here in Erfurt," says assistant coach Uwe Sauerteig of Schenk and Völker. "And not just these girls but also Gunda Niemann, Rene Taubenrauch and Matthias Pfeiffer. They are all great skaters and they push each other and thereby see their own self-improvement" ...Völker made her first big splash at the 1997 World Single Distance, finishing second to China's Xue Ruihong (shoo-AY REE-hong) and beating countrywoman Schenk in the 500 meters...she has made other splashes as well -- in a bad way...at both the 1996 and ‘97 Sprint World Championships, Völker fell in the first of two 500-meter races, eliminating herself from contention for the sprint title...the question is whether these were just cases of bad luck, or mental mistakes which could surface in Nagano?...according to Sabine, she does not think that one or two races have any effect on her Olympic preparations...neither does her coach, "That is not an outcome of lack of nerves," says her coach Gneupel of the past mistakes. "Sabine is a outstanding competitor. She tends to go for it all"...Völker has been impressive in the early-going this winter...her goal has been to become the number one sprinter in the world and to unseat Schenk...she also wants to make up for two previous Olympic disappointments...in 1992, Völker had health problems and aging star Christa Rothenburger took her place...two years later she seemed poised and ready to for Lillehammer having recorded world class times, only to see teammate Anke Baier (now Baier-Loef) steal the Olympic spot from under her nose...unfortunately for the German sprinters, Catriona LeMay-Doan of Canada has taken well to the clap skate and currently looks like the favorite to become world's fastest woman on skates at the Olympics...though Völker is solid in the 1,000 meters, her better Events is the 500 meter...Völker grew up in Erfurt, a city in the former East Germany that was not bombed during World War II...thus, it does not resemble a typical drab, former Communist city...Erfurt is the German speed skating capital, having produced eight-time Olympic medalist Karin Kania and five-time medalist Gunda-Niemann (now Niemann-Stirnemann)...Sabine began skating at age seven to copy her older sister Manuela...she is currently tied to fellow sprinter and national team skater Lars Funke, who was injured this winter and does not look to make his Olympic dream a reality... Sabine's father is an architect...Völker speaks little English...