View source for Nils Schumann

{{short description|German middle-distance runner}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name        = Nils Schumann
| image       = Koech, Kiplagat, Schumann 2.jpg
| caption     = Nils Schumann (center) with [[Justus Koech]] and [[Silas Kiplagat]] in 2008
| fullname    = Nils Schumann
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1978|05|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bad Frankenhausen]], [[East Germany]]
| height      = {{convert|1.92|m|abbr=on}}
| country     = {{flag|Germany}}
| sport       = [[Athletics (sport)|Athletics]]
| event       = [[800 metres]]
| pb          =
* '''800 metres''': 1:44.16 ([[Brussels]]; August 2002)
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry | {{flag|Germany}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics|2000 Sydney]]|[[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Men's 800 metres|800 m]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[IAAF World Cup in Athletics|IAAF World Cup]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1998 IAAF World Cup|1998 Johannesburg]]|800 m}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Championships in Athletics|European Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1998 European Championships in Athletics|1998 Budapest]]|800 m}}
{{MedalBronze | [[2002 European Championships in Athletics|2002 Munich]]|800 m}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Indoor Championships in Athletics|European Indoor Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1998 European Indoor Athletics Championships|1998 Valencia]]|800 m}}
{{MedalSilver | [[2000 European Indoor Athletics Championships|2000 Ghent]]|800 m}}
}}

'''Nils Schumann''' ({{IPA|de|niːls ˈʃuːman|-|De-Nils Schumann.ogg}}; born 20 May 1978) is a former German [[Athletics (sport)|athlete]], winner of the [[800 metres|800 m]] at the [[2000 Summer Olympics]], who retired in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marathonscene.com/germany/news/former-olympic-800m-champion-nils-schumann-retires_2009/ |title = Former Olympic 800m-Champion Nils Schumann retires {{!}} marathonscene.com}}</ref> For most of the five years before his retirement he had featured sparingly at an international level due to injuries.

Schumann, born in [[Bad Frankenhausen]], began his career as a footballer in 1984 before switching to athletics.<ref name=BiographischeDatenbankenNS>{{cite web |url=http://bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de/wer-war-wer-in-der-ddr-%2363%3B-1424.html?ID=3203|author1=Volker Kluge|title=Schumann, Nils * 20.5.1978 Leistungssportler (Leichtathletik)|publisher= Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur: Biographische Datenbanken |language= de| access-date= 7 July 2015}}</ref> He won a [[gold medal]] over 800 m at the [[1998 European Athletics Indoor Championships]] in [[Valencia]]. At the [[1998 European Athletics Championships|European Championships in Budapest]] in the same year, he won the title in a close finish. A few weeks later he also won the 800 m race at the World Cup in [[Johannesburg]].

He also made the final of the [[1999 World Athletics Championships]], but placed 8th and last. He had a quiet 2000 season, until the Olympics started in [[Sydney]]. Schumann cruised through the preliminaries, easily qualifying for the final. In the final, Schumann set in his final sprint at the last straight, taking the lead with just 50 m to go. Favourite [[Wilson Kipketer]] of [[Denmark]] gained in the closing meters, but was unable to prevent a surprise victory by the German runner. In the following year, Schumann finished in fifth place at the [[2001 World Championships in Athletics]] in Edmonton.

Schumann, who also won a [[bronze medal]] at the [[2002 European Athletics Championships|2002 European Championships]], was unable to defend his Olympic title at the [[2004 Summer Olympics]] in [[Athens]], suffering from injury throughout the 2004 season.

==Competition record==
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing {{GER}}
|-
|1996
|[[1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics|World Junior Championships]]
|[[Sydney, Australia]]
|5th
|800 m
|[[1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Men's 800 metres|1:49.44]]
|-
|1997
|[[1997 European Athletics Junior Championships|European Junior Championships]]
|[[Ljubljana, Slovenia]]
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 m
|1:51.00
|-
|rowspan=3|1998
|[[1998 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Valencia, Spain]]
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 m
|[[1998 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 800 metres|1:47.02]]
|-
|[[1998 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Budapest, Hungary]]
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 m
|[[1998 European Athletics Championships – Men's 800 metres|1:44.89]]
|-
|[[1998 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|[[Johannesburg, South Africa]]
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 m
|[[1998 IAAF World Cup results#800 m|1:48.66]]
|-
|rowspan=3|1999
|rowspan=2|[[1999 European Athletics U23 Championships|European U23 Championships]]
|rowspan=2|[[Gothenburg]], [[Sweden]]
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 m
|[[1999 European Athletics U23 Championships – Men's 800 metres|1:45.21]]
|-
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|4 × 400 m relay
|[[1999 European Athletics U23 Championships – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay|3:02.96]]
|-
|[[1999 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Seville, Spain]]
|8th
|800 m
|[[1999 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 800 metres|1:46.79]]
|-
|rowspan=2|2000
|[[2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships|European Indoor Championships]]
|[[Ghent, Belgium]]
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|800 m
|[[2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Men's 800 metres|1:48.41]]
|-
|[[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Sydney, Australia]]
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|800 m
|[[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres|1:45.08]]
|-
|2001
|[[2001 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Edmonton, Canada]]
|5th
|800 m
|[[2001 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 800 metres|1:45.00]]
|-
|rowspan=2|2002
|[[2002 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]]
|[[Munich, Germany]]
|bgcolor=cc9966|3rd
|800 m
|[[2002 European Athletics Championships – Men's 800 metres|1:47.60]]
|-
|[[2002 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|[[Madrid, Spain]]
|5th
|800 m
|[[2002 IAAF World Cup results#800 m|1:45.34]]
|}

==Beyond retirement==
On 3 March 2008 Schumann married the 400 meter runner Korinna Fink.<ref>leichtathletik.de: [http://www.leichtathletik.de/index.php?NavID=25&SiteID=418&AthletID=731 ''Nils Schumann im Hafen der Ehe''], 3. März 2008</ref> That was the year in which he set up his own business: he also advertises his services as a personal trainer, based in [[Erfurt]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.personalfitness.de/suche/trainer/3920 |title=Schumann auf einer Vermittlungsplattform für Personal Trainer |access-date=2015-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629041912/http://www.personalfitness.de/suche/trainer/3920 |archive-date=2013-06-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|35em}}

== External links ==
* {{World Athletics||name=Nils Schumann}}

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{{succession box|before={{flagicon|GER}} [[Martin Schmitt]]|title=[[German Sportspersonality of the year|German Sportsman of the Year]]|years=2000|after={{flagicon|GER}} [[Erik Zabel]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 800 m Men}}
{{Footer European Champions 800 m Men}}
{{Footer U23 European Champions 800m Men}}
{{Footer U23 European Champions 4x400m Men}}
{{Footer IAAF World Cup Champions 800m Men}}
{{German Athletics Champions in men's 800 m}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schumann, Nils}}
[[Category:1978 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Bad Frankenhausen]]
[[Category:German men middle-distance runners]]
[[Category:German national athletics champions]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Germany]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for Germany]]
[[Category:European Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:Athletes from Thuringia]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Bezirk Erfurt]]
[[Category:20th-century German sportsmen]]