Richard Adjei

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Adjei (center) receiving the silver laurel leaf from Federal President Horst Köhler on April 30, 2010 in Bellevue Palace ; left the then Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg

Richard "Richy" Adjei (born January 30, 1983 in Düsseldorf ; † October 26, 2020 ) was a German bobsledder and American football player . His greatest sporting success was winning the silver medal as pushing Thomas Florschütz in the two-man bobsleigh at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver .

Life and career

Adjei grew up in Düsseldorf-Flingern as the son of a Ghanaian father and a German mother. He completed his training as a vehicle painter in Düsseldorf. He began his career as a footballer with the Düsseldorf Panthers . In 2002 and 2003 he was a member of Team Europe at the NFL Global Junior Championship Games , which are played before the Super Bowl . In 2003 he was part of the German national team. From 2004 to 2006 he played for Rhein Fire . Until NFL Europe was discontinued in June 2007, Adjei was the linebacker for the Berlin Thunder football team . From 2008 he played again for his home club Düsseldorf Panthers , until 2010 in the 2nd Bundesliga and then in the 1st Bundesliga.

After a commitment by an NFL club failed to materialize, Adjei was recruited by Christoph Langen for bobsleigh . He became part of Manuel Machata's team as a pusher . Together with Machata, he was Vice Junior World Champion and overall European Cup winner in the 2008/09 season. In the 2009/10 season he won the bronze medal in the four-man bobsleigh at the European Championships as Thomas Florschütz's pusher and won the silver medal in the two-man bobsleigh with Florschütz at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and was fourth in the four-man bobsleigh / 11 European champions and world champions in the four-man bobsleigh. In April 2010 Adjei started playing handball , at TSV Kaldenkirchen he became part of the association league team. Most recently he worked as a fitness and youth coach at the regional league football club FC Gießen .

In 2007, Richard Adjei saved a toddler from drowning in Tampa . He died of a heart attack in 2020 at the age of 37. Adjei was married.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Richard Adjei died at the age of 37. In: faz.net . October 27, 2020, accessed October 27, 2020 .
  2. ^ Düsseldorf Panther “Ewigen” list since 1978. In: alumni-panther.de. Retrieved October 27, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Vancouver 2010: Double victory for German two-man bobsleigh. In: Spiegel Online . February 22, 2010, accessed October 27, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Wiltrud Wolters: Richard Adjei: Olympic silver in bobsleigh, now handball. In: RP Online . April 9, 2010; Archived from the original on April 12, 2010 ; accessed on October 27, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Mourning Richard Adjei from FC Gießen - He was only 37 years old. In: giessener-allgemeine.de . October 28, 2020, accessed October 28, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Tim Georg: Professional footballer, bobsleigh pushers, soccer coach: The career of Richard Adjei. In: giessener-anzeiger.de . May 7, 2020, accessed October 28, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Rhein Fire professional as a lifesaver in Florida: Adjei saves toddler from pool. In: NGZ Online . March 13, 2007, archived from the original on July 8, 2007 ; accessed on October 27, 2020 .
  8. ↑ "He was a great guy, like a family member". In: Welt online . October 29, 2020, accessed October 29, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Adjei, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adjei, Richy (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German bobsledder and American football player
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 2020