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Deeply affected, deeply touched: Joshua Kimmich says goodbye to Tim Lobinger with moving words. The FC Bayern midfielder and the pole vaulter, who died of cancer, had a trusting relationship.
EHe was 18 years old when he switched from VfB Stuttgart to RB Leipzig in 2013. Tim Lobinger, the pole vaulter who died on Thursday after cancer, was an athletic trainer at RB at the time. Joshua Kimmich, the newcomer from Stuttgart, and the coach who took care of the fitness of the soccer professionals got along well from the start. Not only on a professional level, but also privately.
When Kimmich switched to FC Bayern Munich in 2015, they stayed in touch – and continued working together. Lobinger worked as a personal coach for the 74-time German international.
“Your values will always shape me”
Kimmich reacted with deep dismay to the death of the former world-class pole vaulter on Friday. “It’s not easy to put into words what you were and will always be to me. I admired you more than anyone else,” wrote the Bayern professional on Instagram.
“I have always looked up to you because you are an inspiration and role model to me in all walks of life. You were and will remain my drive, my engine and my motivation,” said Kimmich. “Every single memory of our time together not only makes me smile, but makes me happy from the bottom of my heart. I am eternally grateful to you for everything. Your values will always shape and accompany me. You will always be there.”
As a fitness coach, like Tim Lobinger was, Kimmich will soon have a guest appearance in Munich’s “Tatort”. In the ARD Sunday thriller “Hackl” – the broadcast date has been announced for March 12 – he is briefly interviewed as fitness trainer “Kenny” in a 24/7 studio. Kimmich had a total of one day of shooting. The crime thriller was filmed from April 20 to May 20, 2022.