The golden glow of Olympia radiated as far as Baden-Baden. Rhythmic gymnast Darja Varfolomeev, single rower Oliver Zeidler and the 3×3 basketball players won Olympic gold in Paris and are now Germany’s athlete of the year.
At the 78th edition of the gala in the magnificent Kurhaus in Baden-Baden, Varfolomeev narrowly beat Olympic shot put champion Yemisi Ogunleye. Zeidler’s lead over second-placed Olympic swimming champion Lukas Märtens (400 meter freestyle) was also only a few points.
Handball players, Bredow-Werndl and Lange also on the podium
Only the 3×3 basketball players made it very clear in the sports journalists’ election, demoting soccer champions and DFB Cup winners Bayer Leverkusen to “Vicekusen” again. The men’s national handball team completed the podium, winning silver in Paris.
Dressage double Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl came third in the women’s ranking, triathlete and Ironman champion Patrick Lange in the men’s ranking. A total of around 700 smartly dressed guests attended the awards evening in the Bénazet Hall to bring a moving sporting year to a celebratory end.
Historic coup for the basketball players
The year ends like a fairy tale, especially for the 3×3 basketball players Sonja Greinacher, Svenja Brunckhorst, Elisa Mevius and Marie Reichert, after they had already crowned themselves with a fantastic final victory in Paris at the Place de la Concorde in front of the eyes of noble fan Dirk Nowitzki.
The dramatic finale with a happy ending at 17:16 against Spain brought the trend sport attention like never before in Germany. Nowitzki and IOC President Thomas Bach were excited on site. At home, the game for gold was shown on ZDF’s main program and reached an audience of millions.
Thanks to Brunckhorst & Co., these were historic games for the German Basketball Association (DBB). The association had never won a medal at the Olympics before. Until the start of the Paris Games, no German basketball player had ever taken part in the Olympic Games. Baden-Baden, however, is not new territory for the association – last year the basketball world champions led by leader Dennis Schröder won the team rankings.
Zeidler’s race “for eternity”
For Zeidler, previously a multiple world champion, his second Olympic Games ended with the hoped-for victory. It was also the first by a German single driver since Thomas Lange (1988 and 1992). “It was a race for eternity. I enjoyed it. And it went by like a dream,” the 28-year-old commented on the show of power at the Stade Nautique.
In Baden-Baden, the 2.03 meter tall athlete came third in the athlete election last year, when gymnast Lukas Dauser won. This time it was enough to get to the front.
Varfolomeev “close to perfection”
In 2023, Varfolomeev was even closer in second place behind biathlete Denise Herrmann-Wick. Thanks to a brilliant performance at the Olympics, the 18-year-old can now call herself athlete of the year. In the French capital, the six-time world champion from Schmiden became the first German to win the Olympic victory in rhythmic gymnastics.
With four exercises “close to perfection”, as national coach Yuliya Raskina later said, Varfolomeev became the undisputed gymnastics queen. Their secret: no pain, no gain. Varfolomeev revealed before the gala in Baden-Baden that she trains 50 hours a week.