Lisa Ecker

Lisa Ecker (born 19 September 1992)[2] is an Austrian female artistic gymnast who competed at the senior international elite level. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, placing 43rd; it was only the second time that Austria was represented in artistic gymnastics at the Olympics, after a hiatus of 48 years.[3][4] In 2017, she retired from competition, having won seven World Challenge Cup medals and 14 national titles, and having reached one European Championship final.[4]

Lisa Ecker
Ecker in 2016
Personal information
Full nameLisa Ecker
Country represented Austria
Born (1992-09-19) 19 September 1992
Linz, Austria
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)[1]
Weight55 kg (121 lb)[1]
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior international elite
Years on national team2015
ClubASKO Kleinmunchen
Head coach(es)Johanna Gratt
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing  Austria
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
2012 FIG World Challenge Cup 0 1 0
2013 FIG World Challenge Cup 0 0 1
2016 FIG World Challenge Cup 0 2 3
Total 0 3 4

Early life and training

Ecker first did gymnastics in kindergarten, and started training competitively in 2000 at the age of eight.[5][6] She was coached by Johanna Gratt, who was also her physiotherapist, for 16 years.[4][6] As of 2016, she was training at the TGW gymnastics performance center at the Linz winter port.[5] Her home club was ASKÖ Kleinmünchen.[5]

Gymnastics career

Ecker's first Austrian all-around title came in 2012, when she won in the absence of Barbara Gasser.[7] Her victory came after a year out with injury, due to a torn ACL,[8][7] which she sustained shortly after the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo.[8] She also took home her first international medal, winning silver at the 2012 FIG World Challenge Cup in Ostrava.[9] That year, she was named Austria's Gymnast of the Year.[10]

In 2013, Ecker reached the finals at the European Championship in Moscow, placing 19th in the individual all-around, the best result for an Austrian woman in 50 years.[8] She subsequently won a bronze medal on the balance beam at the 2013 FIG World Challenge Cup in Ljubljana.[8]

Ecker won her third national title in all-around artistic gymnastics in November 2014, despite having undergone knee surgery the year before.[11] In 2015, Ecker participated at the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow.[12]

In February 2016, Ecker won the bronze medal in vault at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a score of 13.775 points.[13] In April, she qualified for 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, with an error-free performance on all four devices, ranking 12th with 53.132 all-around points.[14][15] She qualified despite an injury to her fourth metatarsal which she had sustained in March.[16] It was only the second time that Austria had qualified for the Olympics in artistic gymnastics after its absence for nearly half a century.[3]

In July 2016, Ecker competed in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Mersin, Turkey, and won four medals, one on each device.[17] At the 2016 Summer Olympics the following month, she finished 43rd in the preliminary phase of the women's artistic gymnastics with an all-around score of 52.966.[1][18] She failed to qualify for the final or set a personal record, following a fall from the uneven bars.[19]

Although Ecker had originally considered retiring immediately after the Olympics, she took a break instead.[10] She retired in 2017, aged 24, due in part to an ankle injury and the unavailability of a suitable coach to replace Gratt.[4]

Personal life

Ecker is from Linz, Austria.[15] Before retiring from competition, she studied as a masseuse and applied for a Fachhochschule course in physiotherapy.[5] In 2020, she married her long-time partner Lukas Kranzlmüller,[20] an international gymnast who had won the Austrian national men's title in 2014.[21] Kranzlmüller is pursuing a career as a police officer, while Ecker works as a physiotherapist.[20]

References
  1. "Lisa Ecker". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  2. "Lisa Ecker". L'Équipe. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  3. "Linzerin Ecker mit souveräner Vorstellung zum Olympia-Ticket". Der Standard (in German). Austria. Austria Presse Agentur. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  4. "Rücktritt von Lisa Ecker". www.oeft.at. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  5. Stelzel-Pröll, Claudia (1 May 2016). "Mit Riesensprüngen in Richtung Rio". Kurier (in German). Austria. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  6. Ertl, Josef (15 May 2016). ""Kunstturnen ist mein Lebenstraum"". kurier.at (in German). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  7. "Ecker und Schwab österreichische Mehrkampf-Meister". DER STANDARD (in German). Austria Presse Agentur. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  8. Crumlish, John (July–August 2013). "Lisa Ecker: From torn to reborn". International Gymnast. 55 (6): 31. ISSN 0891-6616 – via EBSCOHost.
  9. Meißl, Nina (3 May 2013). "Linzerin Lisa Ecker glänzte bei World-Challenge-Cup". MeinBezirk.at (in German). Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  10. "Turnen: Olympia-Teilnehmerin Lisa Ecker erklärte ihren Rücktritt". Tiroler Tageszeitung (in German). Austria Presse Agentur. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  11. "Lisa Ecker ist Staatsmeisterin im Kunstturnen 2014". EDER.at. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  12. "2015 World Gymnastics Championships Athlete Profiles – Lisa Ecker". 2015worldgymnastics.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  13. "FIG World Challenge Cup: Uzbek gymnast grabs gold medal in vault". Trend News Agency. Azerbaijan. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  14. "Ecker: "Ich bin verdammt glücklich"". Laola1 (in German). 18 April 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  15. "Olympiaticket für Turnerin Lisa Ecker". VN.at (in German). 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  16. "Ecker geht in Turnqualifikation auf ihre Punktebestmarke los". Kurier. 5 August 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  17. "Turnweltcup Türkei - Erfolg für Lisa Ecker". ASKÖ Bundesorganisation (in German). 4 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  18. "Artistic Gymnastics: Women's Qualification Subdivision 2 Results". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  19. "Sturz kostet Ecker Rekord". DER STANDARD (in German). Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  20. "Hochzeit von Lisa Ecker und Lukas Kranzlmüller!". www.oeft.at. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  21. "Turnen: Mehrkampftitel an Lisa Ecker und Lukas Kranzlmülle". Tiroler Tageszeitung (in German). Austria Presse Agentur. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
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