Susanne Meyerhoff

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Susanne Meyerhoff

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| fullname = Susanne Maria Meyerhoff

| nickname =

| nationality = {{DEN}}

| residence =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|7|7|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Kalundborg, Denmark

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{height|m=1.73|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|60|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}

| website =

| country =

| sport = Shooting

| event = 10 m air pistol (AP40)
25 m pistol (SP)

| club = Hvidebæk Skytteforening

| coach =

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry|{{DEN}}}}

| show-medals = yes

}}

Susanne Maria Meyerhoff (born 7 July 1974 in Kalundborg) is a Danish sport shooter.{{cite sports-reference|title = Susanne Meyerhoff|url = https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/susanne-meyerhoff-1.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200418024757/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/susanne-meyerhoff-1.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = 18 April 2020|access-date = 23 August 2015}} She has competed for Denmark in pistol shooting at three Olympics (1996 to 2004), and has recorded a career tally of eighteen medals in a major international competition, a total of seven (four golds, one silver, and two bronze) under both junior and senior categories at the European Championships, a total of ten (three golds, four silver, and three bronze) at numerous meets of the ISSF World Cup series, and a silver as a junior at the 1994 ISSF World Championships in Milan, Italy.{{cite web|title=ISSF Profile – Susanne Meyerhoff|url=http://www.issf-sports.org/shooters/shooter.ashx?personissfid=SHDENW0707197401|publisher=ISSF|access-date=18 October 2014}}

Career

Meyerhoff started out as a successful junior at the age of eighteen, and eventually became a runner-up in air pistol shooting at the European Championships in Milan, Italy, when she was twenty. Two years later, Meyerhoff competed internationally on her senior debut for Denmark at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, finishing fifteenth in the air pistol and thirty-fourth in the sport pistol with scores of 379 and 564 respectively.{{cite web|title=Atlanta 1996: Shooting – Women's 10m Air Pistol|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1996/1996v3p2.pdf|format=PDF|work=Atlanta 1996|publisher=LA84 Foundation|page=118|access-date=18 August 2015}}{{cite web|title=Atlanta 1996: Shooting – Women's 25m Pistol|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1996/1996v3p2.pdf|format=PDF|work=Atlanta 1996|publisher=LA84 Foundation|page=117|access-date=18 August 2015}}

Between 1997 and 1999, Meyerhoff was able to back up her performance from the Olympics by successfully claiming gold medals in air pistol at three meets of the ISSF World Cup series. She also simultaneously captured her first ever European title on the same discipline that marvelously culminated in a selection of being one of the favorites vying for an Olympic medal at the succeeding Games.{{cite news|title=EM-guld til Meyerhoff|trans-title=European gold for Meyerhoff|language=da|url=http://www.b.dk/sport/em-guld-til-meyerhoff|publisher=Berlingske|date=7 November 2003|access-date=23 August 2015}}{{cite news|title=Nedtælling til OL 2000|trans-title=Countdown to the 2000 Olympics|language=da|url=http://www.b.dk/sport/nedtaelling-til-ol-2000|publisher=Berlingske|date=11 September 1999|access-date=23 August 2015}}

On her second appearance in Sydney 2000, Meyerhoff put up a dismal display from her outstanding pre-Olympic aim in shooting, as she stumbled down the leaderboard to a distant thirty-fifth in the air pistol with 372, and then shot a tally of 562 (289 in precision and 273 in the rapid-fire) to force in a two-way tie alongside Germany's Anke Schumann for thirty-ninth place in the sport pistol.{{cite web|title=Sydney 2000: Shooting – Women's 10m Air Pistol|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/Masters/sh/SHresults.pdf|format=PDF|work=Sydney 2000|publisher=LA84 Foundation|pages=87–89|access-date=29 March 2015}}{{cite news|title=Tao wins women's 10-meter air pistol|url=http://www.canoe.com/2000GamesShooting/sep17_tao.html|publisher=Canoe.ca|date=17 September 2000|access-date=23 August 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923200236/http://www.canoe.com/2000GamesShooting/sep17_tao.html|archive-date=23 September 2015}}{{cite web|title=Sydney 2000: Shooting – Women's 25m Pistol|url=http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/2000/Masters/sh/SHresults.pdf|format=PDF|work=Sydney 2000|publisher=LA84 Foundation|pages=90–92|access-date=29 March 2015}}

Meyerhoff showed her most potential form in bouncing back to the range at the 2002 European Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece, claiming the gold for the first time in air pistol after four years at 486.2 points.{{cite news|first=Allan|last=Nielsen|title=Skydning: Dansk pletskud gav EM|trans-title=Shooting: Danish pistol shooter wins at European Champs|language=da|url=http://politiken.dk/sport/ECE29203/skydning-dansk-pletskud-gav-em/|publisher=Politiken|date=23 March 2002|access-date=23 August 2015}} The next season contributed to a tremendous success for Meyerhoff, as she dominated the field to defend her European title in Gothenburg, Sweden with a personal best of 492.7. She had gone into the 2003 ISSF World Cup meet in Munich, Germany, having registered a minimum qualifying score of 384 to assure an Olympic quota place for Denmark on her third Games.{{cite web|title=Shooting 2004 Olympic Qualification|url=http://www.majority-sport.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/home/msp/pages/docs/OQ04/Shooting_OQ_v2.pdf|format=PDF|publisher=Majority Sports|page=10|access-date=21 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722132244/http://www.majority-sport.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/home/msp/pages/docs/OQ04/Shooting_OQ_v2.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2015}}

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Meyerhoff decided to focus on her signature event, the women's 10 m air pistol.{{cite news|title=Danske OL-deltagere|trans-title=Danish Olympic delegation|language=da|url=http://www.b.dk/sport/danske-ol-deltagere|publisher=Berlingske|date=13 August 2004|access-date=23 August 2015}} She fired a substandard 379 out of a possible 400 to force in a four-way tie with South Korea's Park Ah-young, Hungary's Dorottya Erdős, and Australia's Lalita Yauhleuskaya for twenty-first place in the qualifying round, finishing five points below the Olympic final cutoff.{{cite web|title=Shooting: Women's 10m Air Pistol Prelims|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/shooting/results/3532238.stm|work=Athens 2004|publisher=BBC Sport|date=15 August 2004|access-date=31 January 2013}}{{cite news|title=Skydning: Svage nerver knuste medaljedrømmen|trans-title=Shooting: Weak shots crashed medal hopes on Meyerhoff|language=da|url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/sport/ECE3379551/Skydning%3A+Svage+nerver+knuste+medaljedr%C3%B8mmen/|publisher=Jyllands-Posten|date=15 August 2004|access-date=23 August 2015}}

Personal life

Meyerhoff is the mother of 4 children: Julie (1997), Viktoria (2001), William (2008) and August (2012) and married to skeet shooter and 2004 Olympian Michael Nielsen.{{cite news|title=OL-kandidat, bevæbnet og gravid|trans-title=Olympic athlete feels ready to be pregnant|language=da|url=http://www.dr.dk/sporten/ol-kandidat-bevaebnet-og-gravid|publisher=DR.dk|date=13 February 2012|access-date=18 August 2015}}