Heike Drechsler is a two-time Olympic long jump champion and one of the most successful track and field athletes of all time. Born in Gera in 1964, she began her impressive career in 1974 and just nine years later - as an 18-year-old - landed on the top step of the podium in Helsinki as the youngest long jump world champion of all time. From 1986 to 1998, it kept raining gold medals for Heike at every European Championships. But that was not enough: she also shone in the sprint and heptathlon and secured a total of 19 international titles, including two Olympic gold medals. She was two-time world champion and five-time European champion in the long jump. On 12 September 2004, she made her last major appearance at the ISTAF in Berlin, where she celebrated her retirement from active sport in front of over 60,000 enthusiastic fans. Heike's career is filled with honours. Named GDR Sportswoman of the Year in 1986, she was also honoured as Sportswoman of the Year in Germany in 2000. The Polish press agency PAP and the UEPS named her Europe's Sportswoman of the Year in 1986, and in 1998 she was honoured with the Bambi. The prestigious Track & Field magazine named her the long jumper of the century. In 2014, she was inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame - as the first German track and field athlete alongside Marita Koch. Her induction into the German Sports Hall of Fame followed in 2017. After ending her active career, Heike worked as a health ambassador for BARMER, specialising in corporate health management, and as an ambassador for the sports badge and the children's joy of moving initiative. With her charming, competent and natural manner, she is now a sought-after speaker for seminars and corporate events. Her topics are motivation, exercise and work-life balance - always supplemented with fascinating insights into her great career and her personal life.