Cheers to bronze. Head coach Enrico Häfner high fives Jessica Steinbrück: “I’m very satisfied” Photo: Matthew Koch
By Joerg Lubrich
Friday belongs to the strong women and men! Powerlifting at the Special Olympics World Games in the Berlin Exhibition Hall. The athletes compete in squats, deadlifts and bench presses.
How does that work? Wheelchair users are driven under the weight bar. Each starter has three attempts. In the end, it is the maximum weight that counts.
It’s great how you manage your life! For Germany’s best, it’s enough this time to get four bronze medals!
Jessica Steinbrück (19) from Gotha (Thuringia) is the only woman in the seven-person German team. She had won four gold medals at the 2022 national games, and now she is third – in the individual competitions and in the overall ranking of her weight class (up to 83 kilos).
Jessica Steinbrück only had two failed attempts in the three disciplines and set her personal best with 35 kilos in the bench press. Behind the German: A helper who intervenes if she cannot hold the weight Photo: Matthew Koch
Danilo Pasnicki also celebrates with the 588 spectators in the hall: “I’m proud of her!” Steinbrück’s teammate had won one gold and three silver medals in Berlin.
Bronze heroine Jessica, who works in the Bodelschwingh-Hof Mechterstädt workshop: “Powerlifting is good for self-confidence. That’s why I decided to do it.”
Her trainer Enrico Häfner: “You get to know your limits.” The coach about bronze Jessi: “More was not possible!”
Also because not everything went optimally in the preparation. Steinbrück had to change her medication. Before the competition, however, they were discontinued in consultation with the doctors. There was also a sprained ankle.
Coach Häfner: “The physiotherapists did a very good job.”
It’s great how she pushes herself through the competitions and her life anyway…