30.07.2022 – 11:55
German Sports Aid Foundation
Frankfurt am Main (ots)
Open water swimmer Leonie Beck is “Sports Scholarship Holder of the Year” 2022. The 25-year-old, who won World Cup gold with the German open water relay team in June, came up against four other finalists in the online vote initiated by Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Sporthilfe enforced. Beck found out about the award during a surprise visit from Sporthilfe, Deutsche Bank and TV presenter Matthias Killing to her home town of Würzburg.
Leonie, congratulations on being named “Sports Scholarship Holder of the Year” 2022. What does this honor mean to you?
Leonie Beck: This honor means a lot to me. This is really a special prize that not many in Germany have been awarded. I am very grateful to Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Sporthilfe for this.
In June you experienced a very successful World Championships, became world champion in the relay and second in the 10 km race. Where do you rank the award for “Sports Scholarship Holder of the Year”?
Of course, you don’t become world champion or runner-up every day, but I don’t want to hide an award like “Sports Scholarship Holder of the Year” under a bushel. You can’t really compare them to each other, but for me it’s definitely a huge success.
Before you, Olympic champions Malaika Mihambo, Thomas Röhler, Martin Häner and Olympic bronze medalist Theresa Stoll won the prize. Do their successes also motivate you for the way to Paris 2024?
That’s what makes it so special for me: they’re all big, successful names. Of course I follow their careers, Malaika just won gold in the long jump again at the World Championships. That motivates of course and helps, for example, if you have a bad training day.
Your sporting career is far from over, at the same time you first completed your bachelor’s and then your master’s degree in media communication. Where will you get your mental balance in the future?
That’s a good question. In any case, I want to do something for my head in addition to sport, to continue my education. That’s why I’ve now enrolled in geography and will explore the world a bit via online courses.
What’s next for you after the successful World Cup this year?
For me, the European Championships in Rome are still coming up this season from August 17th. This is a very important event for me, which I am preparing for at the altitude training camp. After that there will be a World Cup in Canada before we take a short summer break and then start preparing for 2023.
Short biography:
Leonie Beck (* 27. Mai 1997 in Augsburg)
- Sport: open water swimming
- Residence: Würzburg
- Club: SV Würzburg 05
- Greatest successes: Olympic fifth place in 2021 (10 km), silver at the 2022 World Championships (10 km), bronze at the 2019 World Championships (5 km), gold at the 2022 World Championships (4 x 1.5 km)
- Studies: Media Communication (Master)
- University: Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg
The “Sports Scholarship Holder of the Year” award, which has been awarded since 2013, recognizes the special achievements of top athletes studying. Deutsche Bank, partner of Deutsche Sporthilfe since 2001 and national sponsor since 2008, is doubling the current sports scholarship for one and a half years from 300 euros to 600 euros per month for the winner Leonie Beck. The four other finalists receive additional funding of 50 percent of the monthly grant for the same period.
In the online voting, Beck prevailed against Simon Attenberger (ju-jutsu), Valentin Baus (para-table tennis), Emily Bölk (handball) and Selin Oruz (hockey) (in alphabetical order).
Note to editors
Reprint free of charge. Source: Deutsche Sporthilfe
Copyright-free photo material is available for download from Deutsche Sporthilfe: https://bit.ly/3vkxMWb (Photo Credit: Deutsche Bank)
Press contact:
German Sports Aid Foundation
Fabian Mueller
Otto Fleck-Schneise 8
60528 Frankfurt am Main
Tel: 069/67803 – 5014
Fax: 069/67803 – 599
E-Mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.sporthilfe.de
Original content from: Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe, transmitted by news aktuell
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