Finn Sonnekalb
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| Born | 3 March 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Erfurt, Germany | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Speed skating | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | ESC Erfurt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Finn Sonnekalb (born 3 March 2007) is a German speed skater. He is the 2025 and 2026 Junior World Champion.
Career
Sonnekalb represented Germany at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics. On 22 January 2024, during the first day of the speed skating events, he won a gold medal in the 500 metres with a time of 36.61. The next day he won a gold medal in the 1500 metres with a time of 1:50.53. On 26 January, during the final day of the speed skating events, he won a gold medal in the mass start with a time of 5:30.07.[1][2] He competed at the 2025 World Junior Speed Skating Championships and won gold in the 1000 metres, 1500 metres and overll event. He became the first German to win the World Junior Speed Skating Championships overall title since Michael Spielmann in 1988.[3]
During the first World Cup event of the 2025–26 ISU Speed Skating World Cup on 15 November 2025, he earned his first career senior World Cup podium finish, finishing in third place with a World junior and German record time of 1:41.33.[4][5] During the second World Cup event a week later on 22 November 2025, he finished in second place in the 1500 metres with a time of 1:42.31, trailing only Jordan Stolz.[6]
On 20 January 2026, he was selected to represent Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He finished qualification ranked fourth in the 1500 metres and fifth in the 1000 metres standings.[7] During the Olympics he finished in 12th place in the 1000 metres and 13th place in the 1500 metres.[8] He then competed at the 2026 World Junior Speed Skating Championships and won gold medals in the 500 metres, 1000 metres, and 1500 metres, and defended his overall title from 2025.[9]
References
- ^ Pratt, James (25 January 2024). "Gangwon 2024: Angel Daleman and Finn Sonnekalb collect third speed skating gold medals - Day 7 Winter Youth Olympic Games top moments". olympics.com. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Sonnekalb holt sein drittes Gold" (in German). Sport1. 26 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Erfurter Toptalent Sonnekalb setzt nächstes Ausrufezeichen". mdr.de (in German). 21 February 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Rekorde von Finn Sonnekalb: „Ich habe den Weltrekord erwartet"". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 16 November 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Sonnekalb pulverisiert Eisschnelllauf-Rekord". nord24.de (in German). 16 November 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Finn Sonnekalb nur von Superstar Jordan Stolz geschlagen". olympics.com (in German). 23 November 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Das Team Deutschland im Eisschnelllauf für die Olympischen Winterspiele 2026". dosb.de (in German). 16 November 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Die "Zukunft des Eisschnelllaufens": Sonnekalb vor Olympia-Debüt". kicker.de (in German). 11 February 2026. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ^ "Sonnekalb defends Junior title, as Shumekova aims to make Kazakh history". isu-skating.com. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 26 February 2026.