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Wakeboard athlete Fuchs: "Everyone helps each other"
Photo: Chris Lehnert
»If you ask me what wakeboarding actually is, I say: It's like snowboarding, only on the water.
You are pulled on a line at around 30 kilometers per hour behind a boat or on a water ski facility.
You show different jumps, so-called tricks.
Men usually drive even more spectacularly.
Women think more, are more cautious.
Still, there are a lot of excellent female drivers - and I see no reason why they should be disadvantaged.
Recently there was a wakeboarding event in Hamburg that only men participated.
If the organizer argues that there are not yet enough top riders for their own women’s ranking, I don’t understand.
I know athletes who would have wanted to and would have been good enough to master the obstacles.
It would be good if there were more women in management
I started wakeboarding when I was 17, and I've been calling myself a professional athlete since last year.
In our sport you can not only earn prize money, but also through sponsorship.
Women still get significantly less and may have a harder time finding a sponsor at all.
For example, Red Bull, which is a big name in the freestyle sector, has significantly fewer women among its athletes - and not a single German wakeboarder.
One thing is clear: as a woman, you have to take the initiative, it doesn't help to wait.
But companies also need to become more open.
It would be good if there were more women in management: They would perhaps be more committed to promoting female athletes or inviting women to events.
A lot has happened in the past two years. Events where only men are at the start are becoming rarer. I have never experienced sexist behavior from colleagues. That's the nice thing about wakeboarding: It welds together, regardless of whether you are a man or woman, young or old. Everyone helps each other. So I would be happy if the sport became even better known and really became Olympic in the next few years. "
