Olympic champion at Netto
Gymnastics star Hambüchen: “I haven’t taken care of things”
12/18/2025 – 5:03 a.mReading time: 1 min.
Olympic gymnastics champion Fabian Hambüchen talks about his financial situation and supports a fundraising campaign. To do this, he sits down at a supermarket checkout.
Fabian Hambüchen has achieved everything in gymnastics: Olympic gold, World Cup medals and national titles. Hambüchen dominated the sporting headlines for many years like no other gymnastics star, in Germany but also internationally. But what about the finances of the former top athlete?
At a fundraiser for the Tafel in a Netto branch in Cologne, the 36-year-old spoke openly about his economic situation. “I’m doing well financially today.” But he also says: “I’m not a footballer – I’m not taken care of.” Hambüchen spoke to the tabloid “Bild” about, among other things, his financial situation while supporting the “Germany rounds up” campaign.
Unlike many professional footballers, the gymnast had to continue working for a living even after his playing career. Most recently he appeared on the RTL show “Let’s Dance”, where he took third place. The financial situation in his family was not always easy. “My father didn’t have a lavish coaching salary,” says Hambüchen about his childhood.
His mother therefore had to make do with a limited budget. She showed a lot of creativity: “She conjured up things from natural yogurt or quark that were healthy, cheap and super tasty.”
Only with his sporting successes and his first income was he able to relieve his parents’ financial burden. Today, Hambüchen says he “continues to earn good money,” but remains down-to-earth: “Money isn’t the be-all and end-all for me. I’m aware that there can be completely different times.”