Going for the Gold

Heiko Kröger, one of the most successful German sailors and member of the 2008 T-Systems Team, wants to stand at the top of the podium again in Beijing

Most sportsmen would have jumped for joy after receiving that phone call, but Heiko Kröger kept his feet on the ground. The man at the other end of the line asked whether he would be interested in racing for his association.“Maybe at the Olympics in Sydney?” Mr. Kröger, a sailor, was at a loss. The prospect of traveling to the most important sporting event in the world was tempting; but the inquiry came from the German Disabled Sports Federation (Deutscher Behindertensportverband) – and that made the sailor hesitate. “You are one of us, after all,” the man then said. Mr. Kröger had never looked at it that way.

Heiko Kröger, now 41 years old, was born without a left forearm. Not that that ever held him back. When he received the call, Mr. Kröger had just won fourth place at the Kiel Week. He almost always finished in the top twenty in the European Cup Races. “My brain doesn’t actually know that there could be a hand there,” says Mr. Kröger. “You don’t think about it at all, you just do what you have to.”

Kröger has been sailing since he was a child and switched to the Laser class at twelve. He has remained true for two decades. Until the offer came from the Disabled Sports Federation. What should he do? “I was fascinated by the chance of a gold medal,” he says. And jumped into the adventure. His new boat is a 2.4 class. Kröger won the World Championship for the Disabled. The first of seven wins – one of them in the open world championship in which non-disabled competitors participated as well.

They showed everyone

Kröger and his comrades caused a sensation at the Kiel Week also. His 2.4 class boot went to the start for the first time in 2001. “They didn’t take disabled sailing seriously,” says Kröger. But they showed everyone. A storm brewed up and the races were canceled. Only the 2.4 class went to the start. “Some of them certainly had to change their mind,” says Kröger.

Experiences like those in Kiel have changed Mr. Kröger. Today he is one of the pioneers in terms of integration. “Sailability” is the catchword. The message is “not disabled by sailing.” That is precisely the key to the 2.4 class. “Everyone who competes has exactly the same chance.”

But time for sport is limited – Kröger, an MBA, works as the key account manager for Holmenkol sporting supplies. It is only before major regattas that he trains for a whole week at a time. “I’ll increase the rate before Beijing again,” says Mr. Kröger. Because he wants to repeat his greatest success there.

Sydney 2000. “An amazingly warm atmosphere,” recalls Kröger. At the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics, the teams walked into the Olympic Stadium, and the German team waved small flags of black-red-gold. “A fantastic feeling.” Goosebumps. Then came the sailing competitions. No-one could beat Mr. Kröger. At the medal ceremony, he stood right at the top of the podium. He remembered that phone call from the federation, three years before. And his hesitation. And finally, his decision. It really had been a golden opportunity.

Read the full portrait of Heiko Kröger in the current print edition of Best Practice