The Deutsche Sporthilfe Foundation has been honoring successful young athletes in Germany since 1978 . A jury made up of representatives from sport, the media and public life awards prizes annually in the categories of individual athletes and team athletes . In addition, athletes in disabled and deaf sports each receive a special price.
The candidates are first proposed by their sports associations . Successful world and European championships for young people and juniors as well as Olympic Games, world and European championships for seniors and other international competitions are decisive for the nomination. The competitive sports division of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) then works with the German Sports Aid Foundation to develop recommendations, on the basis of which the jury decides. In 2007, the jury, chaired by Alfons Hörmann , President of the DOSB, consisted of 14 people, including Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière and high-ranking employees of the German Sports Aid Foundation and other sports institutions.
The Nordic combined athlete Björn Kircheisen (2002/2003) and the biathlete Magdalena Neuner (2007/2008) received two awards in consecutive years ; Pauline Grabosch was honored as a team with Emma Hinze in 2015 and alone the following year.
