Timur Oruz is ending his career in the national hockey team and will therefore forego taking part in the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. But he will continue to play in the Bundesliga for Rot-Weiss Cologne.
According to an association statement, the 29-year-old could no longer manage the double burden as the head of an up-and-coming startup. Oruz was a top performer at the 2023 World Cup and won Olympic bronze in 2016.
Despite being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child and having to undergo a total of four knee operations throughout his career, Oruz has celebrated numerous successes.
National coach André Henning: “Role model for many children”
“This decision was – especially at that point – one of the hardest of my life,” he said: “It was clear that one day it would be incredibly difficult for me to say goodbye. At the same time, a new door opened for me professionally through which I could simply… must go through.”
Oruz was “certainly influenced by his diabetes diagnosis. Everyone told him that competitive sport wasn’t possible. And if someone told him that it wasn’t possible, then he really tried,” said national coach André Henning: “He’s a role model for a lot of people Children with and without illnesses, that limits and boundaries can be pushed. As players, we are losing a driver who got the most out of himself, his body and his career.”
