Former pole vaulter Tim Lobinger died on Thursday at the age of 50. In March 2017 he was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of leukemia. In an interview with SPOX and GOAL in July 2020, Lobinger explained why “healthy” no longer existed for him and how the previous years had changed him.
In addition, Lobinger spoke openly about the problems of getting a professional opportunity as a cancer patient and revealed why he is a fan of RB Leipzig. He also criticized football for not having enough expertise in the field of athletics and explained his special relationship with Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich.
Mr. Lobinger, 35 years ago Sergej Bubka managed the first 6 meter jump in Paris. You were twelve years old then. Was that an initial spark for your own career?
Tim Lobinger: I’ve never really had an aha moment sitting in front of the TV and being shaped by it. I was dragged into the sport by my parents, who worked as voluntary coaches in athletics. What the sandpit was for others, the long jump pit was for me. Athletics was my family. All my friends were in athletics, funnily enough I never had a friend who played soccer. At home, club evenings were even held in the hobby room. I didn’t really look left and right at other sports, but tried all disciplines in athletics. When I became the best in my age group with 3.46 meters more by chance because the year was so weak, I said: Pole vaulting is the most exciting and most fun anyway, I’ll stay here and one day I’ll break the German record.
Later you should even become the first German jumper to crack the 6 meters outdoors. How do you remember this competition in 1997 in Cologne-Müngersdorf?
Lobinger: This day is still very present today. It was foreseeable this summer that I would jump the 6 meters, even if, unlike many who have not made it to this day, I have never talked about it. It wasn’t until I improved my personal best to 5.96 meters and held the German record that I couldn’t really avoid the 6 meters anymore. A month later it was already time. I can still picture the whole day very clearly, and I’m sure I’ll never forget it.
Did you think about the world record back then? The lay to this time at 6.14 meters.
Lobinger: Once in a lifetime you have to set a world record, you have to try it at least once, otherwise you’ll be angry all your life. In Berlin I tried 6.16 meters. I failed miserably, but at least I had this special moment. Of course you dream of jumping higher than anyone else in the world, but unfortunately it didn’t go that far for me. But I was also never someone who was fixated on records or medals. For me, it was always primarily about one question: How far can I get with hard training and professional life? What is the limit for me personally? Like a surfer is always looking for the perfect wave, I’ve always been chasing my brilliant and perfect jump. You never really make that perfect jump, but it was always more important to me than standing on Olympus one day. But of course, I wouldn’t have resisted Olympic gold either. I would have loved to have such a success. And it certainly wouldn’t have been so bad for financing my career. (laughs)
Tim Lobinger: Duplantis? “I would perhaps trust him with 6.30 meters”
The man of the hour in pole vaulting is Armand Duplantis. Be World record stands at 6.18 meters. What do you think when you see the Swede jumping?
Lobinger: When I watch Duplantis, I always think to myself: He doesn’t do anything special, he just jumps incredibly high. That is what is beautiful and fascinating about him. He doesn’t bend the staff like anyone else, he doesn’t reach much higher, he doesn’t do anything technically unique. He’s just really skinny for the sticks he’s jumping and can catapult himself into the air so badass. 6 meters look like nothing when he comes flying over there. Where can it end? I would perhaps already trust him with 6.30 meters.
In German pole vaulting, the situation is no longer as rosy as it used to be. How do you assess the situation?
Lobinger: I have to be a little careful what I say. When I expressed myself somewhat critically before the indoor championships, the established jumpers and trainers immediately felt that it was out of place. Then you’re immediately a nag and you fall out of favor, which I find really sad. I just care about telling the truth. When young athletes are celebrated today who jump 5.50 meters or 5.60 meters, it is no longer up to date. Pole vaulting is a sport that used to be very hip and popular. But we are currently going through a phase in which things are not going that way in Germany. We don’t have to pretend that something big is coming if it isn’t. I think someone like Torben Blech, who showed how you can get to 5.80 meters relatively quickly with passion and the right training, is great. But at such a height, the journey really begins.
You have achieved your greatest success indoors, becoming world and European champions there. Do you have an explanation why it ran better there than outdoors?
Lobinger: Actually, I was much more of the outdoor jumper type, which is why the successes in the hall don’t really stand out for me. But it was always nice to prove to myself that I could at least outperform the people I couldn’t beat in the summer in the winter. I think being a frequent jumper was an advantage for me indoors. I have always competed in an incredible number of competitions in my career. At large indoor championships, the timing is often much tighter than outdoors, with qualifying on one day and the final on the other. You have to be in a very good physical condition, that was me and that was probably a factor. Maybe I should have missed a few competitions in the summer to be really starved and fully there at the Olympic Games or World Championships. I don’t know it. I know that it was rarely due to the form itself, I usually jumped really well a week before or after. Some also got a medal with 5.80 meters, but I was always fourth, fifth, sixth.
Is there a competition you would like to have back?
Lobinger: Yes. To be honest, I still struggle with the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. At that time I certainly had the form to create something big. At least one medal. I couldn’t have come to Sydney better prepared and in better shape, success was practically on a silver platter for me, but for whatever reason it just didn’t go well on the final day. With such a complex sport, it’s unfortunately always possible that the timing was perfect two days before in qualifying and then suddenly it didn’t quite fit anymore. And it’s all over. I’m totally fine with my career, but if there’s one competition I’m still angry about, it’s this one.
Tim Lobinger: “I’m a fan of RB because, unlike other clubs, they have professionals at work”
Nevertheless, you have been able to and were able to celebrate many successes also because of your for some eccentric kind more often in the headlines. How did you feel about that yourself?
Lobinger: It was interesting what stamps I got. First I was the sunny boy of athletics, then I expressed myself a bit more critically, I was already the enfant terrible – and at some point I was also Rambo. I didn’t always think it was fair, but over time I understood how the business worked and played the game. I realized that I can’t be Mother Teresa and show everyone that I’m actually quite a good guy. If I had three bad winds in a competition, I would stand up and say: “Today I had three bad winds, next week I’ll beat them all again.” Then it was said that Lobinger was only looking for excuses. Anyone who has ever been to the stadium knows how it can go. But many do not want to hear complex explanations. Better then: Lobinger screwed it up again. And they were right, things went wrong often enough. But I never let myself be bent and have always stayed true to myself. That’s important to me, because very few actually manage to do it. There’s this rap song, “Apache stays the same”, it sums it up pretty well.
They are during and slipped into the football business after your active career as an athletics trainer. How did that develop?
Lobinger: It all started when Michael Rensing asked me if we could work together after he couldn’t quite follow in the big footsteps of Oliver Kahn. That was my first intense point of contact with football. It developed further through my acquaintance with Ralf Rangnick and Uli Ferber. Uli said they had a nursing case that was being operated on and that the end of their career was even in the air. That was Alexander Hleb. I worked with him and we got him fit again. In 2012 I got the chance to join RB Leipzig, and everything happened very quickly.
At that time you hadn’t even finished your career.
Lobinger: That’s correct. I had already promised meetings for September, but then things went in a different direction. Less than a week after jumping in the pouring rain on the Rhine promenade in Cologne, I was introduced to Leipzig as an athletics trainer. That was it. I didn’t really have a goodbye, but I didn’t need or want it either. After I had a great conversation with the coach at the time, Alex Zorniger, I was hooked on the mission in Leipzig. I’m a perfectionist and a developer – it was just a perfect match. I’m a fan of RB because, unlike other clubs, they have professionals at work. people who really know. I don’t care where the money comes from. Other clubs have also received a lot of money from major sponsors and now have to apply for a guarantee from the state, such mismanagement is madness.
