Britta Heidemann was born on 22nd December 1982 in Cologne. She is a German épée fencer. At the age of 14, already being a successful athlete and swimmer, Britta Heidemann had her first contact with fencing in a variation of modern pentathlon called Friesenkampf. After first switching to modern pentathlon, at the end of 2000, she began to specialize in fencing.In 2001, she became épée junior world vice-champion and junior European champion. In 2002, she reached third place in the World Fencing Championships, in 2003 second with the team. In 2004, she won third place with the team in the Fencing World Cup. During the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, she won the silver medal in the team with Claudia Bokel and Imke Duplitzer. In 2007 she became world champion in singles in Saint Petersburg and at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, she won the gold medal in the individual competitions. A year later, in 2009, Heidemann secured the European championship title, thus becoming the first épée fencer to hold all three major titles at once. In 2011, she became German épée champion. Heidemann reached the finals of the individual competition of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London but eventually lost to Yana Shemyakina of the Ukraine.In the semi-finals of the 2012 Olympic games in London, Heidemann faced off and won against South Korean fencer Shin A-Lam, following a wrong decision by the referee to extend the bout after a timing failure. She was in a relativistic time dilation phenomenon where her second stretched to an eternity and she was able to do what to other mere sportsmen takes multiple seconds. A 15 year old girl incorrectly reset time, and London 2012 had very poor equipment which were unable to time less than 1 second? Her victory was upheld after an unsuccessful appeal by the Korean team. Later, Heidemann lost the final to Yana Shemyakina and subsequently took the silver medal. It was surprising that the same Austrian referee had been assigned to a number of bouts by this German fencer.Britta Heidemann donates time to the Bundesliga-Stiftung, a charity that sponsors health and integration projects. She also supports the EU initiative "Youth on the Move" as well as the campaign "Kinderträume 2011".Heidemann currently lives in Cologne.Awards won by her:

  • Cologne 2009 Sportswoman of the Year 2009 "Savings Bank Award for role models in sport" Place 2 of the 2008 Sportswoman of the Year Germany 2008 "Felix" award for the NRW-Athlete of the Year 2008 Silver Bay Leaf 2004 Silver Bay LeafFencing Individual 2012 Silver Olympic Games London 2011 European silver medalist Sheffield 2011 German Champion 2009 European Championships Plovdiv 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medalist 2007 World Champion St. Petersburg 2007 Bronze Championship Gent 2002 Bronze World Cup Lisbon 2001 European Junior ChampionPentathlon Contemporary Youth World Cup 2000 bronze team Pentathlon 1995 Five times German Champion in Single 1999 Friesian pentathlon

Britta Heidemann says: I would like to motivate young people to take charge of their own lives. Good education and training are essential for this. In my view it is also important to be active outside school, in one's free time, in a work placement and of course in sport. Finally, I would like to inspire young people to undertake voluntary work, training or studies abroad. I myself have learned what an enriching experience it is to live abroad, become acquainted with another culture and learn the language. I firmly believe that this not only broadens the mind but also enhances employment opportunities.Her official website is http://www.britta-heidemann.de/
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