“I don’t see it”
Death threats: German table tennis star becomes clear
May 2, 2026 – 8:09 a.mReading time: 2 minutes
A month ago, table tennis star Annett Kaufmann made death threats against her public on the Internet. Now she speaks openly about how she deals with it.
Table tennis star Annett Kaufmann doesn’t want to be intimidated by death threats and hate comments on the Internet. “I always imagine that someone is sitting on the sofa, sees me playing and says to themselves: I’ll show them now. I tend to make fun of people like that,” said the German national player to the German Press Agency before the first game at the Team World Cup this Saturday against France. “If this person stood in front of me, they would probably never be able to say the same thing to my face. Hateful comments always say something about those who write them.”
In March, the 2024 junior world champion made comments about death threats against her public in a talk format for the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten”: “It was described exactly how I was going to be killed.” And further: “Women in particular receive unspeakable messages that relate to appearances. I also receive, among other hateful messages, many extremely sexist comments.”
Kaufmann emphasized how important public attention to the issue is to her. The 19-year-old now explained: “We athletes are used to a lot of things because we are in the public eye. But what I noticed from many of my reactions was that many people are not aware of what sometimes happens in social networks. And many people think that the life of a professional athlete only means sparkle and glitter,” said Kaufmann.
After she reported on the excesses on social media, many friends advised her to file a criminal complaint. “But this is sometimes not possible with anonymous accounts and fake profiles,” said Kaufmann. “And I personally don’t see why I should dedicate so much energy to these people. Everyone is allowed to have their opinion. You can’t accept hatred, death threats and sexism. But otherwise it’s up to me how much value I give an opinion. And for me, only the opinions of people who are important to me have value.”
