Live and train in Colorado, Boston and Nebraska. What makes it so attractive for German top light athletes to turn their backs back to their home? Lea Meyer, Robert Farken and Till Steinforth took the step into the USA – and report on their experiences and dreams.
They start for Germany, but more and more top athletes train in the USA, have laid their center of life there. What is the attraction? Where does the belief in success come from? “Get out of the comfort zone and try to develop as a person and athlete”names 1500-meter runner Robert Farken a central motive for jumping over the Atlantic.
Farcs in Colorado: Only there was not enough
Farken, obstacle runner Lea Meyer and decathlon Till Steinforth, who accompanied the NDR in the run-up to the athletics World Cup (from September 13th), unites the dream of sporting success, which seems to be more effective in the American sports system with many better training and framework conditions.
In Germany, he sometimes had the feeling that the “being there” alone was enough, says Farken: “In the United States, it’s about being successful in the international championship.” Farken wants to think and act like this. Is that the key to success? “It just does something to your head when not talking about a qualification, but about a medal. Then you order yourself very differently”according to the 27-year-old.
“You only have a career”
At the World Athletics Championships in Japan, Farken wants his dream of “First global finals” fulfill. As a German champion, he was allowed to go to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 – and left in the semi -finals in Paris in Paris last year.
In Boulder in the US state of Colorado, he trains in the professional team of his supplier. “You only have a career and it is limited in time.” An argument that made the decision easier for him. “It is not forever; so you can talk yourself a little bit that you are so far away from home.”
From Leipzig to Colorado: private life as the greatest victim
A little homesickness is swinging. “The biggest victim is of course private life”Farken says when he starts a jaunt in the open convertible. Ultimately you can “Yes, also not complain with the extremely high quality of life here”.
The weather, the varied trails – and yet it was a big step for him to leave Leipzig. Of course, this was not hidden from his coach Dathan Ritzenhein: “Nevertheless, it was immediately like Robert had been here for ten years.” The chemistry is right, “Because he totally picks me up”says Farken about his trainer. “This energy just turns over to me and I have the feeling that I run a bit for him. You don’t feel so alone anymore.”
Sam Parsons praises farken: strong legs and new energy
His friend and training partner George Samuel Parsons made it easier for him. The 31 -year -old athlete from the USA, which is usually only called SAM, has a German mother and was therefore able to become German indoor champions over 3000 meters in Leipzig in 2019.
“I have known Robert for eight years”Says Parsons and only continues with his praise after he has laughed with farkers out of hearing: “He has stronger legs and is satisfied here. If you have such a mentality and so a new energy, you can really run freely.”
Robert Farken wants to crown his strong season with the final participation at the World Cup in Tokyo.
Ureal record of Wessinghage cracked
In June of this year, Farken at Diamond League Meeting in Rome ran over 1500 meters in 3: 30.80 minutes. He improved the almost 45 -year -old best time of Thomas Wessinghage by 78 hundredths of a second.
Another record on the mile underlines Farken’s ambitions and makes its self -confidence grow. “This ongoing understatement with which one is raised in Germany”he criticizes and wishes more courage: “We Germans could have that because we have something on the box – scientific and training technology.”
Obstacle runner Lea Meyer in Boston: “I can do more”
Lea Meyer has long since passed wrong modesty in sports. Thinking has been part of her DNA “I showed that I belong to a top level in a final and can also run into the top ten”she says. “I can do more – I would like to show that this year.”
Coach Coogan: “Lea has this Self -image “
With coach Mark Coogan, she did a good grip in Boston. “The interpersonal and daily togetherness are right; I feel in good hands”she says. Coogan believes that many Americans think that their country is the greatest ever. But what he believes is “This self -image that we can do anything if we really want it. Lea also has this self -image: I am a world tip, I can get a medal. She believes in itself.”
“Shock in love” Meyer, born on September 16, 1997 in Löningen, born in Löningen in Lower Saxony, came in his own words when she came to height training in Flagstaff/Arizona in 2022 – following the example of many sports stars, which has been on the positive effect of thin altitude for years. “I was up here for five weeks”enthuses Meyer, who won EM silver in Munich in the same year.
Meyer is an employee at the supplier
Of course, Lea Meyer is also supported by the sports aid and the German Athletics Association. Without the financial aid of her parents, her career would hardly have been possible, says her mother Monika Meyer: “We had to support them as parents because athletics are not so important and the financial means are very limited in Germany.”
As a professional in the USA, Lea Meyer now has her do. “The biggest sponsor, the greatest support is my supplier for me. I am almost an employee of the brand and have my salary.”
Is sport in Germany too cropped?
As special “cool” she feels the training “With so many girls. You know, you can get along well with them, we have the same topics, you are at the same point of life.” Social interaction is extremely important to Lower Saxony. In Germany, where she usually trained alone, she felt the pressure much more. “I do my job here, but I do it with fun and serenity.”
It is a challenge to be able to compete with other top athletes in one place every day. But: “You get the best athletes in the world by training with the best in the world – and benefiting from each other.” A strength that she feels every day. “I think we are just a few more steps in Germany, maybe they may crash too much and work against each other instead of each other.”
Best performance and title at the Hallen-DM
As a fourth at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo, Meyer improved over 3000 meters of obstacle in June 2021 by more than 20 seconds to 9: 09.21 minutes. The German record that Gesa Krause has lasted 9: 03.30 minutes since 2019 is getting closer. In February, Meyer also won the title over 3000 meters in 8: 53.82 minutes at the hall DM.
Till Steinforth in Nebraska: “On a high level”
The Magdeburg Till Steinforth also has “Goodbye Germany” said. But his sponsors are not sporting goods manufacturers or rich patrons. A scholarship from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln enables him to study in the United States and to establish himself as a decathlon in the top of the world. “Architecture and sport at a very high level. Nebraska was simply the best option for me”says the 23-year-old.
After the Abitur, Steinforth knew: “I can get even better in athletics, but I also want to learn, become an architect. And this combination was only possible in America. I also know some architectural students from Germany who are not athletes. But they can hardly deal with their studies. And then bring them out with professors who are not interested?”
Also in ten -fighters Till Steinforth did not regret his move to the United States.
Happiness handles: the university and trainer Dusty Jonas
Of course, the farewell was difficult. “But we always stood behind it”says Steinforth’s mother Doreen. Till did not want to go to the Bundeswehr or the Federal Police, adds father Ingo, which is known to be financially attractive to top athletes. So Nebraska. But not only the renowned university in the middle west of the USA was a stroke of luck, but also coach Dusty Jonas. Through him he became so successful and learned a lot from him, says Steinforth.
“From the MindsetWe are very similar in terms of mentality. We are relaxed, often fun. “ In Germany, many are a bit stiffer, says Steinforth. The trainer is happy to return the positive evaluation: “Till is very talented, he has a strong inner drive, he wants to be great. And if you see how he gets studies and sport under one hat, that’s impressive. I think there are very few athletes in the world who can do it.”
On Last-minute Olympia follows World Cup fire baptism
Tokyo becomes Steinforth’s World Cup fire baptism – he already knows the Olympic flair: After he had set up a personal best in Ratingen with 8287 points, he was nominated as a replacement athlete for the Olympic Games in Paris in the previous year – and came into the team for Manuel Eitel shortly before the registration deadline. “With all my equipment, rods and spears, my parents drove to Paris with the motorhome overnight.” At the Olympic decathlon, he finished 15th with 8170 points.
At the beginning of this year, what is in him and what a positive effect in Lincoln has been shown when he was third in the Dutch European Championships in Apeldoorn in Dutch as the German heptathlon record of the Olympic second Leo Neugebauer by 41 points to 6388 points. Two weeks later, he also won the bronze medal at the Hallen World Cup in Nanjing with 6275 points.
Emigration for sporting success: one Win-win story
Lea Meyer, Robert Farken and Till Steinforth have not regretted the leap into the cold water. Your sporting results speak a clear language. Above all, however, the World Cup starters in their adopted home are satisfied, feel comfortable, have arrived and respected humanly.
“There were many athletes who went to America and are successful at the Olympic level”according to Steinforth. “This is what every athlete wants: at the most successful at the Olympics. And if you can study at the same time, it is a win-win story.”