Mental strength is a success factor for top athletes, and Lea Kleesattel, a trainee at FRM II, recently proved this. From the 6th - 12th March, she took part in the European Championship for pneumatic weapons in Maribor (Slovenia) and surprised with a silver medal in the team competition. This time she did not have to sacrifice her holiday, because the TUM granted the 18-year-old trainee an extra vacation.
Lea Kleesattel has been committed to this sport since the age of 12, and since then she has put on a picture perfect career. At 15, she became a German champion with the air pistol and since a little bit more than one year she trains as a junior in the national team. Off the top of one's head, she qualified for the European Championship in Györ (Hungary) and finished third with the team. This year in Maribor it was a silver medal! Bärbel Georgi, the German head coach, is enthusiastic: "I did not expect a medal at all." The three German air pistol shooters took part in the team competition of the juniors and won silver at the first attempt, and only a touch separated them from the gold medal, because the French, who were victorious in the end, had the same number of rings but more tens in the inner circle. Accordingly, the final was very nerve-racking. It took place in a specially prepared hall, with spectators who clapped and in a very special atmosphere ─ all these are not present in the qualification contests.
Lea Kleesattel was also able to maintain a strong position in the individual competition, and finally entered the competition of the mixed teams, which ended with 14th place for her and her partner. " I am satisfied with my results, I was able to prepare myself intensively and retrieve my performance well," says the successful female apprentice. Her sporting plans initially show intensive training sessions with the sport pistol, then she hopes to qualify for the World Cup in the Thuringian Suhl and the next European Championship in Baku (Azerbaijan) next year. And after all, she is also the youngest team member in the Garching team of the Bayernliga, and this team is 2nd!
At FRM II, Lea Kleesattel is in the second year apprentice in information technology (application development). Does her hobby actually affect her profession? "Rather!" says her master Jens Krüger, "she is highly concentrated and has nerves of steel, which she does not lose even in stressful situations". These are the best prerequisites for a successful completion of her apprenticeship and her sporting career, for which we all keep our fingers crossed.
