The 2008 Paralympic Games will be taking place in Beijing from September 7-19. With 4,000 participating athletes, the Paralympic Games are the world’s second largest sports event after the Olympic Games. Allianz is helping to ensure that Germany’s disabled athletes are optimally prepared for the 2008 Paralympics.

Gerhard Rupprecht: Paralympic athletes perform athletic feats of the highest level and with the utmost professionalism. Yet they are not professional athletes. That means that the people who participate in the Paralympic Games must find a way to balance their sport and profession.

In concrete terms, Paralympic athletes work full-time and complete their training after business hours. Our sponsorship of the German Paralympic Top Team ensures that the athletes can free themselves from their professional obligations and thus have more training time in advance of the Paralympics.

Rupprecht: Yes. It was our wish to create more professional conditions for the top athletes in sports for the disabled.

Rupprecht: The areas you mentioned all deal with the highest levels of performance and the ability to beat the competition. These are the values to which we are committed and for which Allianz stands as a company. In addition, by supporting the Paralympic athletes, we want to encourage more people with disabilities to take up sports, and thus make a contribution to the growth of the Paralympic movement in general.

Rupprecht: To me, the desire and ability to pursue peak performance despite disabilities is exemplary. That’s why Allianz not only supports Paralympic athletes, but we also try to learn from them. For example, world-class swimmer Kirsten Bruhn gives motivational speeches to Allianz companies in Germany. So for us, sponsoring Paralympic sports is not just a one-way street.