Sprinter Burghardt takes bronze in the elite circle
The first Olympic medal for sprinter Alexandra Burghardt came in the Winter Games. Now she has one from the Summer Games as well. This is a rare achievement, previously accomplished only by German legend Christa Luding-Rothenburger.
At some point before this surprising bronze medal, Alexandra Burghardt had looked into which exclusive club she could join. And when the German sprinter became one of the seven people to win an Olympic medal at both the Summer and Winter Games, she felt great about it.
"It's a nice round number, I'm still trying to grasp it. It's quite special," Burghardt said after finishing third in the women's 4x100m relay. Alongside Lisa Mayer, Gina Lückenkemper, and Rebekka Haase, the Burghausen native caused a real upset on Friday evening, finishing in 41.97 seconds behind the USA and Britain.
Burghardt, now 30, had already stood on an Olympic podium as a pusher for bobsled pilot Mariama Jamanka at the 2022 Winter Games in Peking, winning silver. She is now the first German since reunification to celebrate a medal at both Olympic events. "That wasn't my primary goal, I didn't think about it all day."
Before Burghardt, Christa Luding-Rothenburger achieved this feat. The former speed skater won gold in Calgary (1988) and Sarajevo (1984), then took silver in cycling in Seoul (1988). The last person to achieve this was Eddy Alvarez, who won silver in short track in 2014 in Sotschi and also finished second with the US baseball team in Tokyo 2021.
Burghardt assured that she will continue to focus on athletics, her success in the ice rink was just a detour. In the summer of 2022, she won the European Championship title with the DLV relay team in Munich. She celebrated her success with a glass of champagne under the Eiffel Tower with her partner Philipp Altenbuchner: "That's amazing."
In her pursuit of unique accomplishments, Alexandra Burghardt set her sights on becoming a member of the select group of athletes who have won Olympic medals at both the Summer and Winter Games. With her bronze medal in the women's 4x100m relay at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, Burghardt accomplished this remarkable feat, joining the likes of German legend Christa Luding-Rothenburger.
