Monique Riekewald
Born: 03.08.1979
Monique Riekewald
CURRENT
In 2009, I ended my sporting career and concentrated on my studies.
With the degrees Dipl. Betriebswirtin FH, Master of Sience in International Business and Economics and an MBA in International Business, I now work as a sales manager in international management at Würth Elektronik.
Greatest successes
2003 European Championship gold, St. Moritz
2007 World Championship gold, St. Moritz
2005 World Championship 5th place, Calgary
2003 World Championship 8th place, Nagano
2001 World Championship 7th place, Calgary
2000 World Championship 8th place, Innsbruck
Family
Married, 2 children
Motto
"Enjoy the little things in life"
Your Oberhof
I found the love of my life in Oberhof.
What was your sporting career like?
I discovered my passion for ice and speed when I was 5 years old. At that time, I started with the racing sledge and gained my first competition experience at the children's and youth sportakiades, among others.
At the same time, I kept trying out different sports and finally came to skeleton in 1995. At that time, it was a sport that hardly anyone knew about.
After I graduated from high school in the USA in 1997, I was the first female skeleton athlete ever to come to the sports high school in Oberhof.
It was an exciting time, also because we started building our own sleds and runners back then. Falls were included in the test programme.
With the decision to include skeleton in the Olympic programme, the dream of an Olympic medal became a real goal. Unfortunately, I never achieved that goal. As a pioneer of an up-and-coming sport, it was certainly not always easy, but I look back on an incredibly wonderful time with joy and many good memories.
What was the most emotional moment of your sporting career?
It is very difficult to name a single moment, but standing on the podium and hearing the national anthem is certainly one of them.
What was the biggest sporting disappointment for you?
...to realise that perhaps it's not always the sporting performance that decides in the end.
What are your goals for the future?
I want to motivate, support and remind the people around me every day to pursue their goals and have fun doing their tasks.
... because it's nice that some things don't change.
