A weekend full of motivation, exercise and team spirit: from 8 to 10 November, the Talent days 2024 took place in the athletics hall at the Fritz-Jacobi-Anlage in Leverkusen. The event was organised by Ottobock in collaboration with TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V. Young people with leg amputations and dysmelia had the opportunity to swap their everyday prostheses for sports prostheses and discover their sporting potential. The aim of the sports prosthesis weekend was to give participants access to sport, promote a healthy and self-determined life and perhaps even lay the foundations for a sporting career.

Paralympics stars as role models and trainers

The special atmosphere of the event was created not least by the venue, which is also a training base for para-athletics professionals and Ottobock ambassadors such as Johannes Floors, Léon Schäfer and Elena Kratter. Under the guidance of professionals Heinrich Popow, Elena Kratter, Johannes Floors and Philipp Waßenberg as well as trainers from TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V., the young talents took their first steps or improved their running techniques.

Sport as the key to freedom of movement and health

Sports can be a perfect option for prosthesis wearers to expand their mobility and promote personal freedom of movement. Sports help strengthen the cardiovascular system and relieve stress. Movement is particularly important for prosthesis wearers since they have to expend up to seven times more energy to make the same movements than non-amputees. Physical fitness is crucial for getting the most out of their prostheses. Relay competitions and the 30-metre sprint – highlights of the weekend programme – highlight the positive impact of sports on the participants’ self-confidence and quality of life. Many described the experience as “learning to fly”.

New option: Rent sports prostheses via the mysportsbox program

Although sport enables amputees to be more independent and thus have an improved quality of life, access to sports prostheses is often made difficult by high costs. For children, the costs of sports prostheses are covered by health insurance companies if the prostheses are used for school sports. From the age of 18, prosthesis wearers must in most cases bear the costs of a sports prosthesis themselves. Ottobock has therefore developed a new rental model with mysportsbox that makes it easier for those affected to access sports prostheses: For a monthly rental fee, users can rent the sports prosthesis that suits them and integrate it into their sporting life. The mysportsbox offer includes individual component configuration and is available within just a few weeks - a low-threshold and flexible path to more mobility and enthusiasm for sports. The rental model has been available in Germany since November. Other countries are to follow.

“Sport shouldn’t be a luxury,” explains Heinrich Popow, gold medalist at the Paralympic Games in London 2012 and Rio 2016. “Sports prosthetics start at around 10,000 euros for below-knee amputees. For above-knee amputees it is correspondingly more. These sums must not prevent people from doing sport and leading an active life.”

A moving weekend for everyone involved

The Talent days 2024 ended with a ceremonial presentation of certificates at which all participants were recognized for their impressive achievements. Georgia Näder, Vice President of Futuring Mediterranee & Business Transition, was enthusiastic: “This event is an important step towards more mobility and self-determination in the everyday lives of many people. The smiling faces at the end of the weekend are great proof that sports prostheses can create real quality of life.”