BERLIN – On Wednesday, 18 October, the medallists the 2017 Summer Universiade were invited to the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) in order to be honoured for their outstanding achievements in Taipei last August. Thomas De Maizière, Minister of the Interior, who had invited all German medal winners, had to cancel his presence on the very last minute due to the ongoing exploratory talks in the coalition negotiations. He was represented by State Secretary Hans-Georg Engelke, who welcomed the athletes at the BMI and expressed their greatest appreciation: “The Universiade with its top athletes ideally represents the concept of Dual Career: it is impressive how the athletes on the one hand reach the highest level of sporting achievements and at the same time successfully complete their studies.”
During a presentation, some of the medal winners had the opportunity to talk about their competitions and to present personal highlights. The Secretary of State had quite a few questions to the athletes and all athletes encouraged in a lively discussion. Juliane Bötel, member of the board of the German University Sports Federation (adh) and Secretary General Christoph Fischer reported on the experiences and events in Taipei and gave a good insight into the Universiade. At the final get-together, the athletes engaged with State Secretary Engelke and the other representatives of the BMI in an interesting exchange.
The reception underlines the athletes’ outstanding achievements at the 29th Summer Universiade in Taipei and honours their successes. All medal winners can be found on the adh homepage. Of the 24 athletes who had won a medal, the following athletes participated at the reception:
- Nadja Bazynski (FHÖV NRW / Judo – up to 63kg / bronze);
- Timo Benitz (TU Berlin / Athletics – 1500 meters / gold);
- Neele Eckhardt (University of Göttingen / Athletics – Triple Jump / gold);
- Philipp Galandi (TU Berlin / Judo – 100kg / Bronze);
- Andreas Hofmann (University of Heidelberg / Athletics / Javelin Throw / silver);
- Jörg Onufriev (Beuth HS Berlin / Judo – Team / bronze);
- Kristin Pudenz (University of Potsdam / athletics – Discuss Throw / gold);
- Maximilian Schubert & Martin Setz (both university Potsdam / Judo team / bronze);
- Louisa Stawczynski (TU Dresden / Diving – 1m board / bronze);
- Falk Wendrich (University Bochum / Athletics – High Jump / gold);
- Maike Ziech (FU in Hagen / Judo – up to 78kg / bronze).
(Source: adh)