After Jolina Thormann celebrated her debut with Ninja Warrior Germany last year and then convinced with the “Allstars”, she is now appearing with her father Sven for the first time in season 7. The father-daughter duo can be seen on the show on October 21 (8:15 p.m. on RTL, RTL+ and in the sport.de live ticker).
Before their performance, the two explain in the sport.de-Interview about what coincidence led Sven to ninja sport, what role bets and mutual challenges play in training and why they are still successfully wakeboarding. Jolina also reveals how she experienced the memorable encounter with substitute reporter and ex-Bundesliga professional Thorsten Legat in Season 6.
How did you get into the sport? What role does he play in your life now?
Jolina Thormann: I applied to the show at the time because I thought it was cool on TV. Then I was accepted and of course I wanted to train, but I was still 17 and couldn’t go to the gym by myself because it was so far away.
Sven Thormann: Actually, Jolina only needed one driver and I thought: Well, then we’ll do it together. But I didn’t feel like sitting around in the hall, I have to be active. At some point I dared to tackle the obstacles myself. The first thing I thought was, “This isn’t for me!”
And now you’re doing the sport with your daughter and you’re on TV together on Friday. How did this leap come about?
Sven: Jolina said on the set of the last “Allstars” season that I actually wanted to be part of Ninja Warrior. I was only there as an accompanist, but in the interview on the show I got a wild card for the next season. And I’m happy about it, otherwise I would never have really gotten into this sport.
What does the ninja sport mean to you today?
Jolina: When dad got the approval for Season 7, we said: “Now we’re going full throttle!” We now live the sport and are in the hall together once or twice a week and train. But we actually do everything together, not just ninja, but also wakeboarding. We also go to the gym or trampoline together. That’s cool!
You often go to ninja competitions together. How has the community reacted to you as a father-daughter duo? What were the reactions in the environment?
Sven: The response is quite good and I’m cheered on everywhere, that’s really great. You know us now. At work, I’m sometimes asked what we did over the weekend when colleagues watched our videos [bei Social Media, Anm. d. Red.] see. At my age, many people no longer trust me to do that, precisely because I started it so late.
Jolina: I also often hear from my people how cool my father is that he goes along with all this. Many would also like to have a parent at home who participates in the sport. And dad caught up really well too! We always battle each other on individual challenges, so we motivate each other.
Are you more excited when you start yourself or when you have to watch the others?
Jolina: I’m already very tense with dad, but when I’m at the start it’s a bit worse, especially on the show. But I always aim to be better than him. And when I see how far he’s come, the pressure is even higher [lacht]. I think dad is more excited with me.
Sven: That’s always been a real feeling of excitement – but actually for all athletes. It’s just a nice sport and you know each other. It’s just fun and you learn a lot from the others. If you have problems or questions, everyone will help you.
Is the excitement in front of the camera on TV different than at competitions?
Sven: I was very excited on the show – until I stood upstairs and heard that beep. After the start signal, I didn’t care at all, I was only focused on the obstacles and I didn’t notice anything from the cameras. As soon as you start running, you switch off and you’re in the tunnel.
Did you go into the show with a specific goal?
Sven: Sure, I wanted to hit my daughter! [lacht] Of course you want to get as far as you can. Nobody wants to fall for the first obstacle because you invest so much time in the sport. I don’t wish that on anyone. But most of all I wanted to have fun!
Jolina: As a small incentive, we have also agreed that the worse one has to pay for the tank filling for the trip to Cologne. I’ve decided to buzz in the preliminary round, I wanted to do the final for next year. It would be nice if I could improve every year. I tend to push myself very quickly, so I don’t want to take on too much.
In a promo video you said “I don’t just do sports as a hobby, I want to be the best woman in Germany.” Where does ambition come from?
Jolina: If I do a sport, then do it properly! With ninja, a couple of people told me pretty early on that I was progressing relatively quickly and that I should take advantage of that. When I trained a bit more, I became aware of that. And then I felt like stepping on the gas even more and setting myself a high goal. One day I want to be Last Woman Standing!
How do you perceive your own development? In the “Allstars” relay you just barely missed the final.
Jolina: Sometimes you don’t really notice it, because you always make little progress. Luckily I’m filming everything. I recently watched my old application video for the show again and saw how easy things are for me these days.
In addition to ninja and trampoline jumping, you are also active together in wakeboarding. Is it true that this happened more or less by accident?
Jolina: Yes, I learned to water ski on vacation and then got a voucher for a camp at Christmas where I learned to wakeboard. Then I was approached by the national coach because I was able to implement things quickly. I competed in the German championship that same year, but wasn’t that good. The following year I learned a lot and competed in my first European Championships, where I was able to get third place.
Sven: It has to be said that Jolina is an extremely good learner and can quickly put into practice everything that is explained to her. It doesn’t matter what sport, it’s always been like that.
How has wakeboarding helped you in the sport of ninja?
Jolina: I think it was the other way around with dad: He learned how to wakeboard through Ninja and now he dares to do more things than before.
Sven: The ninja sport already gives you more confidence in yourself. You learn to do things quickly and you get more power.
Jolina: Ninja also does a lot for body awareness. I noticed it extremely this year with wakeboarding: I skied very little because I was concentrating on ninja and still I was able to do all the tricks that I really had problems with last year. Both wakeboarding and ninja require a lot of grip strength, which goes together very well. But in the summer it was difficult to juggle everything, especially since I had a few exams during my studies.
Could you choose any sport at all?
Sven: You can do ninja all year round, wakeboarding is limited from spring to autumn if you don’t go abroad. But that’s really expensive.
Jolina: Currently I would choose Ninja. Also because the community is even cooler. It is always the case at the competitions that everyone is extremely happy for everyone, there is so much togetherness, like a family. That’s so incredibly cool with Ninja.
Are there moments in your sports where you’re afraid of getting hurt or thinking about what could happen?
Jolina: Up until two years ago, I didn’t even think about something like that and just did everything. Then I broke my foot twice while jumping on a trampoline, had to have an operation and was in the hospital. Since then I’ve often thought about what can happen and I don’t do all the jumps I used to do.
When it comes to wakeboarding, I’m now at a level where you can really hurt yourself, so I think about it a lot. In the ninja only the first jump is a bit difficult, but after that I’m not scared.
Jolina, there was an incident without injury during your TV debut last year when Thorsten Legat interviewed you as a reporter. After you climbed out of the pool, he patted your head on camera after he was supposed to shake your hand. What were you thinking then?
Jolina: When I was standing there, I didn’t notice anything. I was probably still full of adrenaline. In the athletes’ room, the others asked me what was going on and I didn’t know what they meant. I saw it there on a screen and at home I preferred to warn that there could be a funny scene after my performance. When it aired, we laughed our heads off.
Do you get asked about it more often?
Jolina: I’ve had people ask me for photos a few times, and they’ve put their hands on my head for the picture. And if someone asks me: “Who were you in Ninja Warrior again, you look familiar to me?” I just ask: “Do you know the episode with Thorsten Legat?” And then everyone will know. I still think it’s super funny. My friends sometimes still touch me on the head and say: “Now you’re signed!”
The conversation was conducted by Maike Falkenberg