Heike Lange

Heike Lange was an East German speed skater who competed in the 1976 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck. She was outside the medal positions, finishing 10th in the 500 metres, and eighth in the 1,000. In 1973 she won her first East German national titles, winning the sprint all-round and the overall all-round titles. In 1976 she won the 500 metres title.

Lange later studied German philology, and was employed by the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin until re-unification. She then worked for the Berlin Senate in the school development department. In 1994 she became CEO of the German Children and Youth Foundation. In 2013 Lange was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. As a child she played the lead character in the children’s movie Lütt Matten und die weiße Muschel (Little Matten and the white shell).

Personal Bests: 500 – 43.1 (1974); 1000 – 1:27.7 (1975); 1500 – 2:16.7 (1975); 3000 – 5:00.4 (1976); 5000 – 8:34.0 (1976).