You'll have to think of this good news as a gold trophy for a brave mother - not really good news at all. But in a detailed, very personal video, pro surfer Alana Blanchard has shared her story. It's a story that could fuel the concerns of successful young women about pregnancy. That's because 31-year-old "Lana" has long been the face of her sponsor, Rip Curl. Cool surfer, sexy woman with charisma, the ideal fit for a hip company. Blanchard was not only a model, she also designed the swimwear.
For almost 15 years this went well - but then at the beginning of last year it was over. Blanchard cites her pregnancy and childbirth as the reason. In her video , the athlete talks about how much the separation from her sponsor still bothers her. She has heard things that no mother should hear, she says. Today, though, she thinks the end of the sponsorship was the biggest blessing that could have happened to her - "because no job, no sponsor is worth getting ripped apart for just being yourself." Blanchard shows just how much of herself she is by paddling with her son - a proud, strong mama, a role model for young women, our best news of the week.
People who could touch products. Experts who answered questions on the spot. What a high at ISPO Shanghai, which ended last Sunday after three days. And what a strong sign: Over 350 brands were on site. More than 19,000 visitors came - an increase of seven percent over the previous year. And they got exactly what a trade show like ISPO wants to offer. The latest trends, innovative products, everything important about outdoor, camping, lifestyle, sports fashion, running, health & fitness and much more. Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München GmbH succinctly summed up the importance of ISPO Shanghai this year. "If ISPO Shanghai was a boost for the industry last year, this year it is a vaccine against the epidemic." There was a new rush of visitors and passionate discussions, he said - what good news for the continued muscle-building of our vital industry.
Sustainability is no longer just empty talk, but concrete and reality - at least among sports and outdoor companies. The new "Material Change Insight Report" shows that the so-called circularity score of the companies increased by a whopping 57 percent last year. This puts sports and outdoor companies well above the average for all companies, where there was a 37 percent increase. Sustainability is now an established theme in companies, with virtually every one now having developed a strategy to address it. The study also shows that awareness of environmental or social risks has increased significantly. Currently, the loss of biodiversity has replaced climate change as the main problem according to the companies' assessment.
Peter, you're still the big man - even if you haven't had a big coaching job yourself for a while: Peter Neururer, who has become one of the most popular coaches at many Bundesliga clubs thanks to his good sayings, is once again training club-less professional footballers this summer. The camp of the players' union VDV is a bit like the camp of good hope. Footballers who no longer have a club can keep physically fit and do team training here. And if a club from the 1st or 2nd Bundesliga or from the third league then urgently still needs a professional, he no longer has a training backlog. "We have professional-like conditions. Everyone has the opportunity here to get at least as fit as a normal Bundesliga club," says Neururer. He has already led the summer camp in 2017, 2018 and 2020. For the players, the camp is a real springboard - according to VDV and Neururer, 80 percent of the players find a club again afterwards.
Normally we would change the side of the road when Robert Harting's mountains of muscle come towards us in the dark. But now we can really slap him: The German Olympic Sports Confederation has dedicated a separate double-page spread to the 2012 Olympic discus champion in a Panini collector's album now being released to coincide with the Olympics. Unlike the better-known football sticker albums, this edition is not just about the current athletes, but also about glorious Olympic episodes. From the German team that travelled by ship to the first Olympic Games of the modern era in Athens in 1896 to gymnast Fabian Hambüchen's gold medal on the high bar in Rio 2016. But what we're most pleased about: 10 cents per bag of stickers goes to Deutsche Sporthilfe (German Sports Aid) and thus, in a roundabout way, back to the German athletes.
Where Peter Neururer, praised in our other good news, often had a bit of bad luck on his football boot, for Lukas Podolski it's pure luck. The 36-year-old World Cup winner from 2014 is still kicking on. And that at the end of his career at the dream club of his childhood: The Polish-born Podolski will hang on for another year at Gornik Zabrze and presumably finish his career there. In Poland, this is a source of enthusiasm. It is not often that true world champions play in the league, the fans enthuse. Along the way, Podolski has already embarked on his next career, as a TV star for RTL in his German hometown of Cologne. This is because the broadcaster not only wants Podolski to be on the jury of "Das Supertalent", but also in other television productions. Let's hope, then, that things don't go into extra time with Gornik Zabrze too often - not that Lucky Lukas has to rush from the football pitch to the TV studio faster than his shadow.
Admittedly, we like the horse races in England much better because of the hats and the Queen. But the Blue Riband in Hamburg is, of course, a number in itself - and the German Derby finally had another historic event to offer. Jockey Andrasch Starke won the most important gallop race of the year in Germany for the eighth time and thus equalled the 50-year-old record of the legendary jockey Gerhard Streit. It was also a special occasion for his stallion Sisfahan: he entered the race as the outsider, which must have brought some horse bettors good money. Most importantly, Sisfahan emulated his sire Isfahan, who had also won in 2016. Before our column now becomes too fa(ha)ncy, we close the news of the week ...
