Here is an overview of the VIPs that have made an appearance at the trade fair over the past few years.
As a swimmer, Franziska van Almsick was at the top of the world for over a decade. Now, the Berlin native is also a successful businesswoman in the sports business. She presented her fitness program Mybod-e and her foundation Schwimmkids at ISPO Munich 2018. At the trade show, the mother of two talks about the balancing act between business and family. And van Almsick is sounding the alarm: “Every other grade schooler can’t swim properly or at all!”
Henry Maske has long since ended his career. At ISPO Munich 2018, however, the former light heavyweight world champion talked at the Health & Fitness Forum in hall A6 about how he stays involved and what innovation could change boxing on a broad scale. As brand ambassador at boxing outfitter sports2be, he shares his expertise and supports the company with the conception of new products.
Despite his surprising success on the Streif, Mittenwald man Thomas Dreßen has always stayed calm and down to earth. At the ISPO Munich 2018 trade fair, he also announced that he has just extended his contract with Rossignol by two years. His secret for the downhill in Kitzbühel? Dropping back into his native dialect: “Jetzt druck i das Ding oafach obi!” („I’m just going to go for it now, so I did“). Hopefully this trick also works at the olympics in Pyeongchang—we keep the fingers crossed!
Bode Miller (40) is in his element. A new element. The Olympic skiing champion presented the latest collection from his US outdoor brand, Aztech, in hall B1 – and he is always on the lookout for new kicks in the halls of the ISPO in Munich. “It’s fascinating,” said the best professional US skier of all time, “You come here and you think that you have seen everything in sport – and then you see these innovations and it blows your mind. I really like the power that comes from the ISPO Munich.”
Even 24 years after his active career, Markus Wasmeier still burns with passion for winter sports. At ISPO Munich the double Olympic champion strongly criticizes the IOC, calls for modesty from the organization and a real return to the original sporting values: „It is my desire that the IOC gets closer to the athletes and the people, that the gap between the people and the association is reduced again.“
Flying over water with a wing board - foiling is the next big future trend in water sports alongside SUP-Yoga. The SUP world champion Sonni Hönscheid is convinced of this during her visit to the ISPO Munich. You fly over the water with the board like a hydrofoil - an incredible feeling. “You become super fast and feel like you're floating”, says Hönscheid.
In the 70s and 80s, Ingemar Stenmark was the best skier on the planet. His record of 86 World Cup victories still stands today—Marcel Hirscher is currently standing at 54. With the Swedish ski goggle manufacturer Spektrum Stenmark he presented a hand-signed, limited “Ingemar Stenmark 86 Edition”. He was quite impressed by ISPO Munich 2018: “That's an incredible offer here,” he says, “and so many people!”. The pleasant-reserved ski star has never been attracted to the spotlight before.
Freestyle star Bene Mayr now focuses completely on freeriding. At ISPO Munich 2018, the extreme sports athlete explained how this discipline challenges him in a new way: “The conditions are extremely complex. There’s only one run; you can only go down the mountain once. The avalanche risk, the condition of the snow—freeriders must be able to react to it and if necessary choose a different way down.” An he agrees with Markus Wasmeier: “The Olympics, FIS and all those associations hugely change a sport. I have seen this happen with other freestyle skiing disciplines. The Olympics change many aspects of a sport; it will never be the same again.”
She was the first woman to summit all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks without oxygen: Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner. In 2016, she was awarded the ISPO Trophy for her life’s work. The extreme mountain climber is also at ISPO Munich 2018 and says: “Over just three days, you get the opportunity to inform yourself completely. What innovations there are. What’s been reworked. How each exhibitor has further developed, what new products they’ve brought forth. It’s magnificent.”
Javi Martinez from FC Bayern is a fan of ISPO Munich. The center field strategist visited Messe München for the fouth time and took a look at new products in the sports industry. A new trendy sport once showed the Spaniard his limits. SUP was the hardest thing I ever tried“. The first steps are always the hardest—this even might be true for a sports professional.
Austria’s David Lama (27) is considered an exceptional talent in international alpinism. He presents his new sponsor, The North Face, at ISPO Munich and says: “With TNF I have the opportunity to give input during development even more than before.” But he also points out: “At TNF, it’s not about a job as a developer for me. I’m still a mountain climber first and foremost. Every year, TNF makes big expeditions possible for their athletes. Naturally, that’s an outstanding opportunity.” All alpine enthusiasts have a reason to looking forward to exciting new projects evolving from this new partnership!
As the undisputed king of monster waves, the four-time World Champion Philip Köster is not usually the fearful type, but he had a bit of a shock while windsurfing in Australia last week. “When surfing, I saw a great white shark in the water. Even as a professional, you’re better off heading to the shore and warning the others,” explains the World Champion when visiting the Outdoor & Watersports Village. His advice for fitness fans with a little less thrill: “SUP is an extremely cool sport, when there’s no wind. If you want to stay fit, I can recommend spending as much time as possible on the water and riding a bike.”
Felix Neureuther is now speeding up in business, too: The skiing pro has become an investor in the avalanche airbag manufacturer ABS Protection, saying at ISPO Munich 2018: “The new owners convinced me of the company’s perspectives and gave me the opportunity to also get personally involved. I think it’s very important that freeriding is made safer with avalanche airbags, as I myself am passionate about hitting the trail in the deep snow. As inventor and technology leaders in avalanche airbags, ABS Protection has the best product for me.”
The US ski racer revealed at ISPO Munich 2017 that it was highly unlikely he would be making a comeback: “I can say with more than 90 percent certainty that I won’t be returning to the ski circuit.” Bode Miller went on to add: “I’ll be 40 soon. I have been through all there is to go through in my skiing career.”
In 2016, the then coach to the Bayern Munich team visited us at ISPO Munich, shortly before making the move to Manchester City. When Pep Guardiola visited the stand of his sponsor Gore-Tex, he explained the reasoning behind his relocation to the United Kingdom: “After three or four years, you’ve done all you feel you can. You need new challenges if you are to keep pushing yourself to get better. You need new challenges all the time.”
In 2016, the former national team player hinted at his plans following the end of his career. “I’ve always said that I’d like to stay involved with football and indeed with FC Bayern Munich. We’ll just have to wait and see which role it will be in.” Back then, speculations were rife that Philipp Lahm could become Sporting Director of FC Bayern Munich, but he turned down the club’s offer and is instead enjoying retirement.
The extreme mountaineer was awarded the ISPO Trophy in 2016 and when she appeared at the event Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner spoke about the risks involved in her line of work. The Austrian sports personality and the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without the use of supplementary oxygen said: “Coming back safe and sound was always my number one priority.”
Stefan Glowacz, who is also a businessman, came to ISPO Munich 2016 and spoke about fear: “I have woken up in the middle of the night covered in sweat because I was faced with making a decision that involved a lot of risk and there was a chance of me making the wrong choice. Up mountains and in business, we find ourselves presented with situations that are new to us and that we aren’t able to judge. These situations fill us with fear.”
The biathlete has taken home twelve gold medals from the Biathlon World Championships as well as winning twice at the Olympics and three times at the Overall World Cup. In 2015, when Magdalena Neuner was 28 years old, she was awarded the ISPO Trophy for her sporting achievements. In an interview with ISPO.com, she suggested that she might be looking to take things a bit more slowly in future. “If I have more than one child later in my life, which I very much hope I will, my family will become an even bigger priority for me.” Her first daughter was born back in 2014, her second in 2016.
