Simply The Best. German Edition Quiz

Answer: Dallas Mavericks

Nowitzki played for DJK Wurzburg until the 1998 NBA draft when he was selected at ninth pick by the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks immediately traded him to Dallas and he became just the fourth German player in NBA history.
After a difficult first season, Nowitzki improved in his second season and by his third had a formidable partnership with Steve Nash and Michael Finlay, culminating in the team reaching the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.

Through the next 18 years, Nowitzki would help the team reach the playoffs a further 14 times, with the highlight surely being in 2011 when the Mavericks defeated Miami Heat 4-2 in the finals with Nowitzki being named Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 2012, Nowitzki became the first ever non-American player to be awarded the Naismith Legacy Award, presented to those who have honoured their role within the sport by furthering the values of honour, respect and integrity.

Answer: Nico Rosberg

Michael Schumacher was the first driver to win seven World Drivers' Championship titles. He managed to do this while taking a three year sabbatical from driving between 2007 and 2010, during which time he continued to work for Ferrari in an advisory and developmental role. During his long career he drove for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes with team mates such as Martin Brundle, Jos Verstappen, Johnny Herbert, Rubens Barrichello and for his final two years in the sport, fellow German Nico Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg is the son of talented Finnish F1 driver of the 1980s (and 1982 World Champion), Keke Rosberg. Nico was born in Wiesbaden, West Germany and although he could have raced under the Finnish flag like his father, he chose Germany. He was active in the sport for ten years between 2006 and 2016, during which time he drove for Williams and Mercedes. When Michael Schumacher retired following the 2012 season, Rosberg was partnered with Lewis Hamilton who would win the Drivers' Championship in 2014 and 2015 before Nico won it in 2016, after which he retired from the sport.

Answer: NHL (Ice Hockey)

Cologne born Draisaitl grew up playing hockey in his native Germany until at age 17 he was selected second overall in the import draft by the Prince Albert Raiders of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). After just two successful seasons with the Raiders, he was selected third overall by Edmonton Oilers in the 2014 NHL draft and made his debut with the team later that year against arch rivals the Calgary Flames. Just two weeks after his debut, he recorded his first NHL goal as the Oilers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3.

His eye for goal was what helped him to take the Art Ross Trophy in 2020, and placed him in exalted company as he became just the third Oiler to do so after Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid.

Answer: Martin Kaymer

Kaymer's win at the 2010 PGA was his first major win and he built on it by being acclaimed number one in the world rankings in 2011, a position he held for eight weeks. In 2014 he won The Players' Championship, beating Jim Furyk of USA by a single stroke and he followed that by winning the U.S. Open with a massive eight stroke margin. With this win, he also earned a place in the history books as he became the first player in history to win the two championships back to back.

Answer: Luge

Schumann competed in three Olympics, winning a bronze at the 1972 Sapporo games in addition to her 1976 gold. Her gold medals at the World Championships between 1973 and 1977 (there was no event in 1976), would not be matched until fellow German, Sylke Otto managed it between 2000 and 2005. Schumann retired from competition following the 1980 Lake Placid games and after studying sports science, became a trainer before becoming a selector for the East German Olympic team.

Answer: Steffi Graf

The great Steffi Graf conquered the world of tennis for so long, winning the Australian Open four times, the US Open five times, the French six times and Wimbledon an amazing seven times. The high point of an amazing career was her Grand Slam, often referred to as her "golden slam" in 1988 when she won all four titles in a single year.

This was also the first time in history that a Grand Slam had been won on three surfaces, these being the grass of Wimbledon, the clay of France and the hard court of USA and Australia.

Answer: Laura Ludwig

Ludwig, together with Sara Goller won the German championship in 2006 as well as finishing fourth in the European championships. The following year the pair retained their German title and took silver in the Euros and then in 2013, Ludwig teamed up with Walkenhorst for an even more successful partnership. The pair won bronze at the 2013 and 2014 European beach volleyball championship, and gold medals at the 2015 and 2016 Beach ECH as well as their Olympic gold for which they beat the Brazilian pair of Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas in straight sets. Ludwig took time off in 2018 to give birth to her son and Walkenhorst retired due to multiple injury issues, but Ludwig returned to the sport in 2019 with new team mate Margareta Kozuch.

Answer: Tour de France

Ullrich first competed in the Tour de France in 1996 and finished a very creditable second behind his Team Telekom team mate, Bjarne Ris. The following year though, at age 23, he became the fourth youngest winner of this classic race when he beat Richard Virenque by a time of over nine minutes. In the 1998 Tour, Ullrich once again finished second, this time to Marco Pantani of Italy. Ullrich also competed in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, coming away with a gold medal in the road race and a silver in the time trial.

Answer: Katarina Witt

Witt took gold at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and repeated it four years later at the Calgary games, while winning the European championships every year between 1983 and 1988. Throw in the fact that she also won four World Championships during this time and you have a competitor on the top of her game.
During her time competing she skated to a variety of music, including "In The Mood" (1939) by Glenn Miller, "Bad" (1987) by Michael Jackson and the theme from the "Muppet Show" (1976).

Answer: Jurgen Klopp

Klopp started out as a striker with Mainz 05 but was soon moved to being a defender and other than his final season in 2000-01 scored at least two league goals every season. Even though he played so many games, Klopp himself is on record as saying he always thought he was better suited to management, coming up with the quote, "I had fourth-division feet and a first-division head".
In just his his third season as a manager, he took Mainz 05 into the Bundesliga for the first time in their history and cemented his reputation by guiding them to an 11th place finish in their first season there.

Bigger clubs took notice, and in 2008, he signed as manager for Borussia Dortmund, clinching the Bundesliga title with the youngest ever squad in 2011 and then successfully defending their title in 2012. In 2015 he became the manager of Liverpool after assembling the team he wanted, success started to come, with winners medal in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2019, followed by Liverpool's first Premier League championship in 2020.