The goal is already written on the wall in the training centre. Several banners with the words "Special Olympics Germany" are hanging in the weight room of the RBO Berlin sports club in Lichtenberg. The Special Olympics is the umbrella organisation for the sports movement for people with intellectual disabilities. In June 2023, the organisation will host the Special World Games in Berlin: the Olympic Games for people with intellectual disabilities.
Robert Herberg is currently working up a sweat to achieve this goal. Together with the partners in his training group, he is doing circuit training. He has been a successful cyclist for years. In 2015, he won two gold medals at the World Games in Los Angeles, both in the time trial. "That was my favourite sporting experience," he says after putting down the weights from strength training. He particularly remembers the opening ceremony with the flame. "I'll never forget how it was lit. It touches everyone. It's also the case that everything then revolves around us, us people with disabilities. The routes are cordoned off and we are the centre of attention in the media," he enthuses.
The race course in Los Angeles ran directly along the Pacific Ocean, adds his mother and carer Evelin Päthe-Grünwald. She came along to the training session for the meeting with TOUR. Herberg usually rides alone on his tricycle, which is also his competition bike. "Then I have narrower tyres at the front and rear, and the box at the back is gone too," he explains. "I have the two wheels at the back because I'm not so good at keeping my balance. I also learnt to walk late," he says candidly. He suffered an accident at the age of one and a half. Evelin Päthe-Grünwald doesn't want to go into detail about what exactly happened that day. "Just this much: someone else wasn't paying attention and he was the victim," she says.
It's hard to measure just how much life has changed for the whole family. But the cheerfulness with which Robert does his sport, the way he interacts with his mates in the training group and the way he approaches complete strangers who barge in during training is infectious. He also talks cheerfully about his work in the Lichtenberg workshops. "I work there in a document destruction centre. I break everything and get paid for it. Breaking things is fun," he laughs. Banks, law firms, courts and other companies with sensitive data bring their paper files there. "Robert is perfect for the job because he can't read at all. So he can't tell anyone, he's not a danger," says his mum. And he also enjoys the job. So a lot of things are coming together very well in Robert Herberg's life at the moment.
Of course, he is really looking forward to the Special Games in his home town. "I won't have to travel far. We race on the Straße des 17. Juni. Both lanes will be closed for us," he says. And once again, a lot will revolve around him and the other 7,000 or so athletes with intellectual disabilities. "We still need volunteers. Anyone can take part," he says, appealing for support.
What he loves about sport is not just winning, but also the community. "We're together, we're friends and we want to perform at our best together. But we also help each other on the apparatus. If someone doesn't get up so well, we give tips and help. Above all, it's about respect, about humanity, about accepting others as different as they are," he says. There is hardly a better way to express the spirit of the Special Olympics.
Searching for common ground
Robert Herberg also has this goal in mind, every Tuesday when he works up a sweat in the gym. "It's good to have highlights. You can train towards them and gear all your training towards them," emphasises trainer Ricarda Koch. She looks after three training groups at the club and is employed as a sports therapist at the workshops. She has known Robert Herberg for around nine years. "He has always been very ambitious and determined. He did what he wanted to do," is how she describes him.
Evelin Päthe-Grünwald sees many developments in her son through sport. "It brings physical fitness, of course, but also self-confidence and mental fitness. Because there is a lot of interaction. It also helps with assessing what you can and can't do, as well as training your own willpower." The Special Games promise to be a new highlight. Robert Herberg has nothing but good memories of the games in Los Angeles. He learnt some English there - "I love you", for example, as he proudly reports on his bike on the way home. Another memorable moment was when a policeman gave him a lift on a motorbike - and Robert immediately set off the siren. Those were great moments.
But Robert Herberg also has a feel for the darker moments that life can hold in store. As we pass the Königin-Elisabeth-Krankenhaus Herzberge, in the immediate vicinity of his training centre, he points to a gap in the fence and says: "You can get to a building where they used to carry out experiments on people with disabilities." During the National Socialist era, so-called research projects were actually carried out with inmates of the sanatorium as part of the euthanasia programme.
Robert Herberg is also aware of this. He says goodbye with a quote from his favourite film "Independence Day", from the US President's speech before the all-important space battle. "It's about living together, not against each other, about seeking what we have in common," he emphasises - and disappears into the darkness of Lichtenberg in his three-wheeled vehicle, on his way home, to the Special Games, to new common ground.
The Special Olympics Worlds Games Germany are looking for volunteers
Take part!
The 1972 Olympic Games and the 2006 Football World Cup changed the image of Germany. The world as a guest of friends could not have been more surprising: The over-correct, stiff and unfunny Germans were able to be cheerful and celebrate. Germany can also change in 2023: From 17 to 25 June 2023, the Special Olympics World Games will take place in Berlin - the largest inclusive sporting event in the world and the largest multi-sport event in Germany since 1972. More than 7000 athletes will compete in 26 competitions. Special Olympics is a movement that will enable people with intellectual disabilities to participate more fully in everyday life.
TOUR readers and cyclists can actively help, Germany more inclusive - as volunteers at the World Games. Cycling fans support cyclists from all over the world so that they can draw attention to themselves through their zest for life and their achievements. A total of 17,000 volunteers are needed - and not just for the cycling races.
If you have the time and inclination in June 2023, to participate in a truly special event, apply and find out more here: www.berlin2023.org/Volunteers
