At the Olympic Games, Heike Drechsler won the gold medal in the long jump in 1992 and 2000, she ended her career in 2004. Now she has other goals.
Interview: Sabine Hoffmann
When did you first realize that you jump further than everyone else?
Only in adolescence. I’m a late bloomer. As a child, I was very tall and fast, but I had slight coordination problems. Today, young talents jump around four meters at the age of twelve. I don’t even know if I managed to do it at that age. I was underdeveloped there. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I rose to the top of the world. I flew over seven meters for the first time when I was 16.
Your mother raised you and your three siblings alone after the death of your father. How did you get into competitive sports?
