Top 15 German Athletes

Photo by Jeffrey F Lin on Unsplash

Top 15 German Athletes

*Originally published by Lillian on May 2022  and Updated by Vanessa R on May 2023

The Germans are known to be sports fanatics and have been successful in most international competitions even winning world titles.

When compared to other nations, Germany has been ranking among the top countries with many medals.

The 2018 ranking placed Germany on the third position after the USA and Russia with almost 2000 medals.

Germany has an estimate of 90,000 sports clubs and at least 27 million Germans are registered members of these clubs. These clubs strengthen virtues such as fair play, teamwork and lenience.

The most popular sport in the country is football. The German national football team has won the FIFA World Cup four times, the most recent win being in 2014.

With this background in mind, let us look at the Top 10 German athletes.

1. Katarina Witt

First on the list is Katarina Witt a figure skater. She has won several award and medals in her career as an athlete both for her country and herself.

She came into the sports limelight after she beat Rosalynn Summers, an American, in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Yugoslavia.

She is remembered as one who effortlessly displayed skill, talent, beauty and class on the rinks. This made her name known worldwide as the best German figure skater.

Her first main competition was in 1981 at the East German National Championship.

She won a silver medal in 1982 at the European and World Figure Skating Championship and in 1983, she won the European Championship for being the first to do a record-tying six consecutive times.

Witt dominated the figure skating competitions for more than half a decade. Her dominance is attributed to her use of technical skills, theatrical performance that captivated both the audience and the judges.

In 1988, Witt took part in the Winter Olympics in Canada. She was competing against Thomas, and her choreography, which lasted longer than her rival’s, won the medal.

She was the first woman to ever in a repeated Olympic gold medal in singles figure skating since 1936.

Witt retired in 1988 although she also took part in the 1994 Winter Games in Norway.

2. Steffi Graf

Steffi Graf comes from a family of sports enthusiasts. Her parents, Peter and Heidi, both played tennis.

Her father mentored and trained her when she was barely four. When she turned 6, Steffi won the first junior tournament.

Her father continued to be her coach as she went and became one of the top young talents in sports.

Steffi has won numerous prestigious playoffs including the Junior Orange Bowl in Florida and the German 14-and-under and 18-and-under championships.

In 1988, Steffi won four Grand Slam events in one year, making her the third female player to win all four; Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

Later that year, Steffi won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Her impressive wins were named the Golden Grand Slam.

By 1991, Steffi was the youngest woman to cut the 500-mark career wins.

She won a silver medal in the 1992 Olympics in Spain and every single grand slam title at least each year until 1997. She retired in 1999.

3. Mesut Özil

By Agência – Wikimedia

Mesut Ozil is a famous German professional football player. He plays for Arsenal at the English Premier League club as an attacking midfielder and sometimes as a winger.

Ozil is famous for his skills and creativity on the football field. He is described as being quick, delicate and flexible while playing as an attacking midfielder.

Ozil started his professional football career in 2005 when he joined the youth system of Schalke 04.

He wore number 17 as a midfielder and started as a central attacking midfielder in matches against Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.

This made a favourite of many and he was named as the next big thing. In 2008, he joined Werder Bremen, then played for Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013 and his boot displayed at the Santiago Bernabéu museum.

He started playing in the English Premier League after he got transferred to Arsenal football club in 2013 where he plays to date.

Ozil was part of the team that represented Germany in 2010, 2014, and 2018 world cup.

4. Michael Ballack

Michael Ballack started his football career in Chemnitz. He started as a professional at his hometown club in Bundesliga 2.

He topped the first stage on the ranking to greatness and moved to FC Kaiserslautern in 1997.

Ballack got to win the league title on his first season at Germany’s top table.

In 1999, Ballack joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen. He finished as a runner-up in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League and World Cup.

In 2002, he transferred to Bayern Munich where he won the league title three times for the four years he played for that team.

He then played for Chelsea in the premier league from 2006 to 2010.

He played for the German team in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA world cup and three UEFA Championships. He is said to be the best central midfielder in German football.

Injuries suffered while on the field led to his retirement. He had one final signing with Bayer Leverkusen for two years, 2010 to 2012 where he made a final appearance after a match against 1. FC Nuremberg in May 2012.

Since the start of his career in 1995 to 2012 when he retired from professional football, Ballack has made 456 appearances and has scored at least 117 goals.

5. Heike Drechsler

By Bundesarchiv- Wikimedia

Heike Drechsler is a former track and field athlete who represented East Germany that later became Germany.

She became very successful in long jumps and became a world record holder and ranked third on the all-time list with her all-time best of 7.48 metres in 1988.

Her passion for this sport started when she was a teenager and became very active in the Free German Youth in 1984.

Later in 1986 when she had turned 21, she joined the elite athletes in sprinting.

Heike has won several medals during her active years. She won two World Championships in the long jump in 1983 and 1993. She also won gold medals in the long jump and the 200 m sprint in the World Indoor Championships of 1987.

She built her career and was able to win championships in her country and Europe.

Her greatest jump and world record was in Austria during the indoor games, she jumped 7.37 meters.

According to Heike, the highlight of her career was when she took part in the European championship that happened in Munich.

6. Magdalena Neuner

Magdalena Neuner is a 32-year-old German athlete that has specialized in skiing.

She has been a big fan of the sport since she was 4-years-old and started competing at the age of 9.

Her junior years in the championships she took part in were quite successful. She won five gold medals in the junior World Championships between 2004 and 2006.

Between 2005 and 2006, Magdalena made her debut in the World cup, this prepared her for the following year’s championships in 2007. She won her first world cup title in Oberhof.

This win granted her entry into the senior World Championship that happened in Antholz.

She won three biathlon gold medals in the sprint, pursuit and relay events.

Success followed her in her consecutive competitions. In the 2007/2008 during the world cup, and was crowned the overall winner.

This was followed by another win at the World Championship in Ostersund where she bagged three gold medals in Mass start, Relay and Mixed Relay.

She had a mild set back in 2009 when she had injuries that stopped her from participating in the championships.

She got back on her grove later on and won both gold and silver in the world cup in Vancouver.

7. Jurgen Klinsman

By André Zehetbaue- Wikimedia

Jurgen Klinsman is a renown footballer that played for Bayern Munich and Internazionale Milan.

Before picking up football, Jurgen started working at his father’s bakery in Stuttgart.

He started playing professionally at 17 years old. He was a shining star from the beginning of his career until the end.

He started his career at Stuttgart, a German club. He played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup under the German national team.

He also played for the U-21 and the U-16 German team. He spent 10 years of his career playing for the A-Team.

He later played for Internazionale Milano, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich before retiring in 1998 after the FIFA World Cup in France.

His active participation did not stop there, he went on to be the coach of the German national team in 2004. Then in 2006, the German national team became the third in the world cup.

He then coached Bayern Munich in 2008 and left in 2009.

He is the second German footballer to hold the record with the most goals in the World cup. During his career, he made more than 200 appearances in Bundesliga and shot more than 100 goals.

Jurgen later coached the American national soccer team in 2011.

8. Oliver Kahn

By Dirk Vorderstraße – Wikimedia

Oliver Kahn is a celebrated German goalkeeper. He is one football player that is remembered by many fans in German football history.

He came from a family that loved football. His father had played professional football for a German team, Karlsuher SC in the 1960s.

Kahn showed interest in football when he was aged six. He went on to play for the same team too.

He then started his career as a goalie in 1987 by joining Bayern Munich.

Kahn is one of the 16 original members of Bundesliga and has spent most of his 30-year career among the best in the game.

His lowest moment in football was during the 1999 UEFA Champions League in the finals in Barcelona.

During that game between Bayern and Manchester United, in the last minutes of the game, they lost by two goals scored by two substitutes, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and that is how their chance to be crowned the Kings of Europe slipped away from them.

He retired in 2008.

9. Gesa Felicitas Krause

Gesa Felicitas Krause is a German athlete who specialises in the 3000 m steeplechase.

She has won bronze medals in her running career in 2015 and 2019 World Championships.

Gesa represented her country in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. She holds the national record in 3000 M steeplechase, which is also her personal best of 9:03:30.

She represented Germany in the 2013 U23 championships.

In 2019, she set a new world record in the 2000 M steeplechase by clocking 55:52:80.

2019 Krause set a world best for the 2000 m steeplechase in 5:52.80

10. Konstanze Klosterhalfen

By filip bossuyt-Wikimedia

Konstanze Klosterhalfen is one German athlete that has six national records in 2019. She is also having an outstanding record as a middle-distance runner.

Her best time was during the Birmingham Diamond League, she clocked 4:21:59.

In 2017, she broke her first German record by clocking 8:29:89 in the 3000 M race.

She believes that she has room for a better time in her career and is always striving to be better than the last time.

She has been able to withstand unfavourable weather during her races emerging with the best time.

In her 1500 M race, she made a national indoor game record of 4:02:70, this was a better performance than her New York race that saw her clock 4:19:98.

11. Matthias Sammer

In 1990, West Germany’s Matthias Sammer, who was born in East Germany, participated in his first international match. FIFA World Cup 1990 champions were from West Germany, but Sammer made his big break on December 19th, 1990, after Germany had been united. In Stuttgart, Germany won a home victory over Switzerland by a score of 4-0. This was his first game.

He played defensive midfield for his team at the 1992 European Championship, which came in second place but lost to Denmark. After being transferred to Borussia Dortmund in 1993, Sammer began playing as a sweeper. His on-field attitude and skill as a sweeper to analyse plays put him in contact with some of the best football players in history. Sammer was chosen Player of the Tournament after the news was made public.

12. Fritz Walter

Walter was the leader of (West) Germany’s first World Cup victory in 1954. He is popular for his style of attacking as a midfielder and is remembered for being able to score serious goals.  Walter scored 33 goals in 61 games for Germany, but in truth, Kaiserslautern, the team where he spent his young years, is where he is still quite popular. 

13. Miroslav Klose

Sven Mandel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Klose continues to be Germany’s all-time leading scorer with 71 goals in 139 games. He also holds the record for the most goals scored at World Cups with 16.

With 258 goals in 667 games for a number of European clubs, Klose had a respectable but unspectacular domestic record. With Bayern, he won two Bundesliga championships. With Lazio, he won a Coppa Italia. He was a competent player even before his international career. He is without a doubt a legend.

14. Manuel Neuer

Although there have been countless examples of sweeper-keepers before Neuer, there is no denying that the Bayern Munich and Germany captain perfected the position.

The 36-year-old has been the foundation of Bayern’s two titles in a row 2013 and 2020—as well as the team’s 10 straight league titles since that year. Neuer, who won the 2014 World Cup, is still important to Hansi Flick’s team despite repeated calls for him to surrender his No. 1 ranking with the national team in recent years.

15. Franz Beckenbauer

Panini, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Despite the fact that sweepers were already common in the 1960s, no one had ever performed the position quite like Beckenbauer. With his exquisite passing range, he not only controlled play from deep but also persistently pushed with the ball, slipping past defenders to join in on attacks.

At Bayern Munich, Beckenbauer won four league championships, four German Cups, three European Cups, and two Ballon d’Or awards, and he later added a third with Hamburg, proving his ability to make any team successful.