A new venue and a new format: For the first time, on 24 November, the German National Paralympic Committee (DBS), will be holding the award ceremony for the Paralympic Athlete of the Year 2018 in Düsseldorf. The award ceremony will be jointly planned and implemented by Messe Düsseldorf and DBS. Since 2010, Messe Düsseldorf has collaborated with Deutsche Sport Marketing (DSM) in organising the German athletes’ quarter, the Deutsches Haus, which included the Paralympics. After many years of partnership with DBS, the trade fair company is now moving to the next level and is again proving its expertise in organising sports-related events.
400 guests have been invited to the ceremony on the Rhine Terrace. Thomas Urban, Secretary General of DBS, is pleased to be working with Messe Düsseldorf: “Messe Düsseldorf has had an important hand in the Deutsches Haus as a popular, bustling home for all athletes during the Paralympic Games. So it’s great that we can now expand our successful collaboration with the Paralympic Athletes of the Year in 2018,” says Urban.
Working for Deutsche Sport Marketing (DSM), the official marketing agency of the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) and the German National Paralympic Committee (DBS), Messe Düsseldorf has been organising the Deutsches Haus as a central meeting point for German athletes since Sydney 2000. This has included planning, implementing and running the German athletes’ quarter. At the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010 the partnership was expanded to include the Paralympic Games. Werner M. Dornscheidt, Chief Executive Officer of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH, says: “Sports, integration and inclusion are part of our DNA – not just through our involvement in the Deutsches House, but also through REHACARE, our trade fair for rehabilitation, care and preventative medicine. We are proud to have expanded our activities in this area with the Paralympic Athletes of the Year.”
Thomas Geisel, Mayor of Düsseldorf, is also pleased about the decision of DBS to choose the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre as a venue and Messe Düsseldorf as the organiser. “It’s a great enrichment for Düsseldorf as a major sports centre that the first award ceremony for the Paralympic Athletes of the Year should be held in our city. The event will be in excellent hands. Inclusion in sports is one of our major values here in Düsseldorf, and we equally promote junior and top athletes both with and without disabilities,” says the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Messe Düsseldorf.
The work that is provided by Messe Düsseldorf includes, for example, the staging, management, decoration and disabled-friendly preparation of the Rhine Terrace. Messe Düsseldorf’s own carpentry created two ramps for this purpose, one for the entrance and one for the stage. “The 12-metre ramp that leads to the stage goes right through the hall, serving as a catwalk for the winners,” says Patrick Muno, head of the Events Division at Messe Düsseldorf.
Fans were invited to take part in an online vote where they could help to decide who should be honoured on the Rhine Terrace as Paralympic Athletes of the Year 2018. The following choices were available:
Female athletes:
Andrea Eskau (Nordic para-skiing and para-cycling)
Anna-Lena Forster (para-Alpine skiing)
Andrea Rothfuss (para-Alpine skiing)
Anna Schaffelhuber (para-Alpine skiing)
Denise Schindler (para-cycling)
Male athletes:
Martin Fleig (Nordic para-skiing)
Makus Rehm (para-athletics)
Martin Schulz (para-triathlon)
Pierre Senska (para-cycling)
Felix Streng (para-athletics)
Teams:
Men’s national goalball team
Nordic relay para-skiing
Cross-country para-skiing, 4 x 2.5-km, mixed
National women’s wheelchair basketball team
Junior athletes:
Denise Grahl (para-swimming)
Phil Grolla (para-athletics)
Julius Haupt (wheelchair fencing)
You can read about the backgrounds of the athletes on the German Paralympic Team at www.deutsche-paralympische-mannschaft.de.
Further details of the German athletes’ quarter, the Deutsches Haus, can be found at https://www.messe-duesseldorf.de/deutsches_haus.
