Gold Rush For XING Members In Beijing

Today marked the final day of the Olympic & Paralympic Games in Beijing. More than 15,000 athletes participated in the world´s biggest sporting event. Over the last couple of weeks, billions of people from all around the globe followed the progress of the athletes, shared the thrill with the winners and empathized with the less fortunate ones.

About 2,400 medals were handed out to the athletes at the Olympics and the Paralympics. Did you know that there were XING members among the German winners? One of them was fencer Britta Heidemann who won the Gold Medal Match. By now the 25-year-old has become a familiar face in the German media.

Apart from Britta Heidemann, there were other XING members who were successful at the Paralympics. Famous swimmer Kirsten Bruhn will board the flight back home with five medals in her suitcase – she won a gold medal in the 100m breaststroke, a silver medal in the 100m backstroke and three bronze medals in the freestyle. Combined with her medals from Athens 2004, she has now won a total of nine! Two other successful XING members are silver medalist Angelika Trabert (equestrian) and air rifle woman Manuela Schmermund. The latter started the medal fever at the Paralympics by winning a silver medal.

One of the most amazing wins was accomplished by XING member Wojtek Czyz. The former football pro, who became involved in disabled sports after losing his left leg due to an unfortunate string of events, won the gold medal in the long jump on his first attempt with a world record of 6.50 meters.

We are proud to have these successful winners among us. Congratulations to all our XING medalists!