Paralympics: Six athletes from Thuringia in Tokyo

The Paralympics will open in Tokyo on Tuesday. The German Parasports Federation has nominated 134 athletes for the Games, who are making their way to the Games for the first time in Japan as Germany’s Paralympic team. The squad includes 58 female and 76 female athletes, semi-athletics mentors, and a cycling pilot.

Six of them came from Thuringia. The athletes are accompanied by 119 people from the functional team, including coaches, doctors and supervisors. In total, up to 4,400 athletes from around 160 countries are expected to compete for medals and best performances at the postponed Paralympics in Tokyo.

There are three wheelchair basketball players from the Thuringia Bulls

Three of the six Thuringia belong to German wheelchair basketball champion Thuringia Bulls: Jens Ecke Albrecht, Andre Bennick and Alexander Halowski. No club in the Free State is sending more athletes to Tokyo. For Albrecht it is the first, for Haluski the second, and for Lébenek the fourth for the Paralympics.

A large group awaits the three athletes with the winner of the Paralympic Games USA, the world champion Great Britain, the third World Cup Australia, the African champion Algeria and the fourth World Cup Iran. In the first match against the United States, Elxleben met two old friends. Matt Scott and Jake Williams, who used to play for the Thuringia Bulls, part of the US team, are the favorites for the tournament.

Jens Eck Albrecht is excited. Even if, like all other athletes, he was only allowed to leave the Olympic Village for training and games, he is looking forward to the experience. Also learn some Japanese vocabulary before the trip.

From a sporting point of view, it’s pretty cool, of course. We’ve been able to get used to it for years now. The mechanism is there. But it’s also great to play with others.


Andre Benik

The novice gets tips from Bulls captain André Bienek. The 35-year-old sees good opportunities for the German national team in Tokyo. He and Halowsky in particular have been playing together for years. There are a total of twelve players, six coaches and supervisors from the German national team. He’s also proud Bulls manager Lutz Lissman. Leßmann says the fact that there are three Elxleben players is the result of years of work. He will follow his players on TV.

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