Ricarda Funk

Nickname: Rici

Date of birth: 15.04.1992

Sport: Canoe slalom

Sporting successes: Olympic Champion, World Champion

Occupation/education: Sports soldier, Bachelor of Media and Communication Sciences

Ricarda Funk is the reigning Olympic and world champion in canoe slalom. She was born in the Ahr valley, where she was born with a love of nature. Even as a small child she paddled on the Ahr and was confronted daily with the immense power of the water. The Ahr, her merciless teacher in childhood. The Ahr, the river that brought so much suffering to her homeland. Especially since the flood disaster, Ricarda has been committed to the local people and nature.

Even though she is very close to her homeland, she has moved the center of her life to Augsburg in Bavaria to pursue her dream. At the Olympic base of the German slalom canoeists, she trains up to five hours a day, six days a week. Ricarda even plunges into the floods of the Augsburg ice canal in snow and ice. Since 2011, she has been a grateful athlete of the German Armed Forces' top sports promotion program, which enables her to pursue a dual career. Thus, in addition to sports and profession, she studied media and communication sciences at the University of Augsburg.