When the Summer Universiade takes place in Gwangju, South Korea from July 3rd to 14th, 2015, German students will also fight for gold, silver and bronze. The General German University Sports Association (adh) will announce the nominees for the German team these days.
Isabel Herttrich cannot miss the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The 23-year-old stands in the badminton hall at the federal base in Mühlheim an der Ruhr for two and a half hours every morning and evening. She works on the common strategy with her playing partner and trains different strokes and serve variants. Isabel has fulfilled the nomination requirements for taking part in the “little Olympics”, as she puts it: she is one of the 80 best players in the world rankings in badminton doubles - in 2013 and 2014 she was German runner-up in doubles and mixed doubles - but is also enrolled full-time student.
Isabel is in her sixth semester of studying business administration at the University of Essen-Duisburg. After the morning training session, she is a completely normal student, commuting to the Essen campus for one or two events before she returns to being a top athlete in the training hall in the evening. Despite the double burden, it is clear to Isabel that she needs a second source of income in the long term: “I can’t earn money from sport forever.”
Many athletes study at the University of Duisburg-Essen. In order to make the balancing act between university and training easier for them, the university is a so-called “partner university of top-class sport”. “The approximately 90 partner universities, together with the adh, the DOSB, the Olympic bases, the specialist associations and the student union, are looking for ways to support the athletes in their dual careers. One example is making exam dates more flexible,” says adh public relations officer Paulus-Johannes Mocnik.
When almost 13,000 participants from 170 nations come together at the 28th World Student Sports Games, as the Universiade is also called, the focus will be on student exchange in addition to the sporting competition and the cultural one. “You'll definitely learn things that you can learn from, such as how others manage their time,” says Maximilian Pilger. The 19-year-old inherited his enthusiasm for sport from his parents - his mother was a competitive swimmer herself. He is also studying business administration in Essen, where the federal swimming base is located, and does not lead the typical student life: “Going out for a drink with fellow students in the evening is not part of my training plan.”
In addition, the Olympic qualification is currently underway, says Isabel. “That means a year of stress, with as many tournaments as possible. “The studies come second.”
When the Summer Universiade takes place in Gwangju, South Korea from July 3rd to 14th, 2015, German students will also fight for gold, silver and bronze. The General German University Sports Association (adh) will announce the nominees for the German team these days.
