The two medal winners at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Miriam Butkereit and Lennart Saß, received the Silver Laurel Leaf from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. It is the highest state award for top sporting achievements in Germany. The Silver Laurel Leaf was first donated in June 1950 by the then Federal President Theodor Heuss and is now also awarded to medal winners at the Paralympic Games and to deaf people for top sporting achievements.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier invited people to Berlin and, together with Interior Minister Nancy Faden, honored the medal winners from Paris 2024. Miriam Butkereit, silver medalist at the Olympics and Lennart Saß, bronze medalist at the Paralympics represented judo.
After the awards event, there was a reception for the SPD parliamentary group in the Paul Loebe House in the evening.
“It is an excellent appreciation, I feel very honored and also take it as motivation for LA,” says Lennart Saß enthusiastically after the event. He is also particularly proud of the positive words he personally received from Steinmeier, Fiber and from Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “It gives additional motivation that there is visibility.” For him it was a great evening, a day of sport that he was able to spend together with his parents as his companions. “I’m very proud and grateful.”
