Felix Streng

Started: He took up the sport in 2012 at the TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen club in Germany. (puma-catchup.com, 17 Jul 2023; athleticsweekly.com, 21 Apr 2014) Reason: He visited the TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen club in Germany to do some research on Para sport for a school assignment. He trained there for three days, and was then asked if he would like to join the club on a regular basis. "I actually started track by accident. In 2012, my sport teacher came to me one day and asked me if I wanted to make a school presentation about the Paralympics. At that point I saw all these guys running in London and it looked so amazing, and that inspired me. After London, I started running and realised in the process that I really wanted to go to Rio [2016 Paralympic Games]." (puma-catchup.com, 17 Jul 2023; athleticsweekly.com, 21 Apr 2014) Ambition: To defend his gold medal in the T64 100m at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympic.org, 21 Sep 2023; hessenschau.de, 13 Jul 2023) Awards: In 2021 he was presented with the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt [Silver Laurel Leaf], the highest sports award in Germany. He also received the award in 2016. (bundespraesident.de, 08 Nov 2021, 01 Nov 2016) He and fellow 4x100m relay runners Johannes Floors, Markus Rehm, and David Behre were named the 2016 Team of the Year by the National Paralympic Committee of Germany. The group won gold at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (paralympic.org, 29 Nov 2016) He was named Elite Student of the Year in 2013 and 2014 by the German Elite School of Sport Association. (tsvbayer04.de, 18 Sep 2015) Additional Info: NEW CLUB AND COACH In December 2020 he announced he was leaving TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen after eight years at the club. He joined Sprintteam Wetzlar, and also began training under coach Steve Fudge in London, England. He felt that the move helped inspire him as he was working with athletes from different countries and backgrounds. "During COVID, I felt I needed some training stimuli and I needed to change. I needed to get a new idea of sprinting and I felt like it was time after eight years in Leverkusen to just make a change. Leverkusen was my sporting home and supported me from day one, not only in sports but also in my private life. Leverkusen will always remain a part of me and I'm proud of that. The Wetzlar sprint team is top-notch and has a motivated team behind it. I really felt like working with them. After the first conversation I immediately felt very comfortable and felt that they fully supported me on my new path, namely to train with Steve Fudge in England." (paralympic.org, 21 Sep 2023; ted.com, 03 Jun 2023; Facebook page, 01 Dec 2020; Sprintteam Wetzlar Instagram profile, 01 Dec 2020) OTHER ACTIVITIES He has served as an ambassador for the Invictus Games. (Instagram profile, 17 Sep 2023) FROM BOLIVIA TO GERMANY Born in Bolivia, in 2001 he and his family moved to Coburg, Germany. (infranken.de, 13 Sep 2016)