German

The 26th Summer-Universiade in Shenzhen will be a special one for the German Delegation. German athletes never competed in so many different Universiade sports before. You will see German team members compete in Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Beachvolleyball, Chess, Cycling, Diving, Fencing, Golf, Judo, Sailing, Sport Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball and Weightlifting. All in all the 19 team parts will add up to the biggest number of German participants ever in our Universiade history. The precise number of competitors and final composition of our team will not be fixed until the last qualification event is over. However, due to the extraordinarily demanding qualification criteria the German University Sports Federation has set out to receive a ticket to Shenzhen we expect all team parts to be highly competitive. The medal promising athletes will most likely be shooters, track and field athletes and Beachvolleyball players.

Most of the currently registered and already qualified athletes of the German Team are excellent junior competitors in their sport battling towards the senior world class level. With an average age of 22-23 years some already have the potential to be Olympians in next year’s Olympic Games in London while almost all have the potential and capacity to be part of the German Olympic Team 2016. All our athletes strive to follow Olympic stars like Ole Bischoff (Judo, Gold Medalist 2008), Britta Heidemann (fencing, Gold Medalist 2008), Betty Heidler (Hammer, World Champion 2007), Thomas Lurz (Open Water, World Champion 2010), Ariane Friedrich (High Jump, European Champion 2009), and many others who have been part of the German Universiade Teams and gold medalists at prior Universiades in the younger past. Considering the extremely challenging standards of performance in this pre-Olympic year and the outstanding field of competitors predicted for Shenzhen our expectation would be to reach the top 12 ranking of nations.

The German Delegation does not only consist of athletes competing for personal bests, medals and titles, but also of well skilled coaches and organizational staff. Our competitors will be taken care of by more than 100 officials. First of all these are of course sport officials such as team leaders and coaches, their number always depending on the sizes of the different team parts they belong to. Another important service will be medical support. Physicians and physiotherapists will take care of the athletes’ health and make sure they are in perfect shape for their competitions. The athletes will also have the chance to work with a psychologist before and during their appearance in Shenzhen. This additional and very valuable service, first tested during the last Summer Universiade 2009 in Belgrade (SRB), was highly appreciated by athletes and coaches and has become a vital part of the medical support program.  Finally, there are the members of the German Team Head Office. They will take care of everything concerning the team – from allocation of rooms in the Universiade Village to team leader meeting nearly every day and intense media communication to update all those people interested in the most recent sports results.

With just about 50 days to go until the Universiade Flame will be ignited during the Opening Ceremony of the Universiade Shenzhen 2011 the German Delegation is ready to start, eager to participate and well prepared to compete.