Nadine Ernsting-Krienke

German field hockey player Nadine Ernsting-Krienke competed in four consecutive Olympic Games, winning the silver medal in 1992 after losing the final against Spain 2-1 after extra time. Therefore, the team and all players were awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. Four years later at Atlanta the team placed a disappointing sixth, and another four years later were only seventh at the Sydney Games. She crowned her career by winning the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning the final 2-1 against the Netherlands. The team was subsequently elected Team of The Year.

Internationally, Ernsting-Krienke won two more silver medals at the 1991 and the 1999 European Championships, and three bronze medals at the 1995 and 2003 Europeans, and the 1998 Worlds. In 1998 and 2002, she was on the European Indoor Championship winning teams, and also on the 2003 World Indoor Championship team. In 2006, Ernsting-Krienke also won the Champions Trophy. In total, she played 360 international matches (including 17 indoor) from 1990-2007.

Domestically, Ernsting-Krienke played with Eintracht Braunschweig but never won a national title. By profession, she became an industrial clerk and worked for the Volkswagen Group.