Background
Leistner was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany and was initially a roller skater but later took up ice skating.
Leistner was born in Ludwigshafen, Germany and was initially a roller skater but later took up ice skating.
She trained in Mannheim, initially being coached by Günter Zöller and later by Ondrej Nepela and Martin Skotnicky. At national level she represented the Mannheimer European Research Council club and internationally she skated for West Germany (the Federal Republic of Germany).
She is a two-time World silver medalist and the 1989 European champion. With her outstanding jumping ability, she went on to become European champion in 1989 and a two-time silver medalist at the World Championships (1983 and 1989). Claudia Leister is married to Stefan Pfrengle, a former German national pair champion. Julia is also a figure skater and is the 2009 German Junior champion.
