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Sabine Töpperwien 2019 in the 1.FC Cologne stadium
Photo: Herbert Bucco / imago images
She was a sports reporter, head of the sports department on the radio - but above all she was a football commentator: Sabine Töpperwien is ending her career.
The WDR announced.
According to the broadcaster, Töpperwien commented on a total of more than 700 football matches, almost 600 of them in the Bundesliga.
»Sabine Töpperwien is a pioneer and a living legend of German sports reporting.
I will miss her distinctive voice, her passionate football comments and her excellent sports skills very much, «said WDR director Tom Buhrow.
Töpperwien was the first woman in Germany to comment on a football match live.
"A woman on the football reporter's Holy See - that couldn't be," said Toepperwin, quoted in the message.
But brother Rolf Töpperwien had prepared them well.
He warned that every word was put on the gold scales.
“Otto Rehhagel once replied that I had never smelled the sweat of a cabin.
And Christoph Daum advised me to send my brother over.
For a long time women had a much, much harder time in the reporting business.
It was a rocky road to change that. "
In addition to football, Töpperwien reported on twelve Olympic Games, figure skating and table tennis.
From 2001 she headed the WDR radio sports department.
In 2006 she was ARD radio team boss at the soccer World Cup in Germany.
Since 2019 she has been part of the management of the cross-media sports campus at WDR.
At the end of the month, Töpperwien goes into early retirement for health reasons.
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