Since winning the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, Germany’s Julius Brink & Jonas Reckermann are milking the spotlight & every opportunity that comes along to share and spread beach volleyball in their country. The media has embraced them and their fan base is growing since becoming Olympic champions.
Last week, the beach duo received the most prestigious & most prominent award in German sports which is the Bambi Award.
Here’s the press release from the FIVB:
Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann continue to rack up awards and recognition even after their beach volleyball season has ended. The German pair’s latest triumph is to be named winners in the sports category of Bambi 2012 – this year’s edition of Germany’s most prominent media awards.
The Bambi jury explained that their decision reflected the fact that, beyond winning Olympic gold, Brink and Reckermann are also breaking ground for a sport that has been under-represented in German media.
“Of the eleven gold medals German athletes collected at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012, this was the most spectacular: Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann are the first Europeans to attain the highest Olympic honours in beach volleyball. Up to nine million TV viewers watched these two charismatic athletes win a stunning match against the reigning world champions from Brazil. Brink and Reckermann – several times German champions, European champions and now world champions – are shining examples of sporting team spirit. With their performance at the Olympics they helped massively increase the popularity of beach volleyball in Germany, a relatively new sport which first became an Olympic event in 1996.”
Brink and Reckermann found out shortly before the official announcement that they would be attending the Bambi Awards in Dusseldorf not only as guests, but as winners.
“It’s a shock, I’m really surprised,” said Reckermann. “I did not think that beach volleyball would receive the most important media award in Germany. We’re very happy that our sport has become a focus for the media.”
Brink and Reckermann join a select list of world and local celebrities winning Bambis. Other honourees include Celine Dion, in Entertainment, and Joachim Fuchsberger, the Lifetime Achievement award winner. The Bambi Award ceremony will be broadcast live from Dusseldorf on November 22 starting at 20:15 local time.
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Congratulations!
As a bonus, the Bambi winners have released some cool wallpapers on their official website:
