SZ: Sport is…?
Günther Beckstein: Very important for my health, as long as I do it in moderation. I like hiking: my wife takes the cable car up the mountain, I climb up in the Fichtelgebirge, in the Bavarian Forest. At my age, low mountain ranges are better than high mountains.
Your current fitness level?
Very good for an almost 80-year-old, bad in relation to a 20-year-old.
Rim upswing or stopover?
First up the rim, then stop off; both are important to me.
Physical education class was for you?
The best subject in school.
Your personal record?
For mountaineering: first up the Zugspitze, then the Jubilee Ridge. That was when I was a 21-year-old student.
Stadium visitors or TV athletes?
He used to love being in the stadium, but now he often sits in a comfortable armchair in front of the television.
Bavaria or sixty?
Neither: Club or Greuther Fürth are the alternatives for me – and that’s called Club.
Your eternal sports idol?
Disabled athlete Gerd Schönfelder. He is a particularly persistent person who has achieved tremendous things as a ski racer.
A formative experience?
Tennis with Markus Söder – because of course he was towering over me, he plays the hardest balls, classes were too good for me.
In which discipline would you be an Olympic champion?
In slalom while skiing.
Which athlete would you like to swap jerseys with?
Enrico Valentini from 1. FC Nuremberg. I have a certain distance to paid football because many players go somewhere for money. But he is from Nuremberg, his father has a pizzeria in Nuremberg, he identifies with the club, the city and the people here.
Under the heading “Formality” the SZ asks people about their affinity for sport every week. Artists, politicians, captains of industry – just no athletes. It would be boring.
