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Christian Krüger (25) from Giesel was portrayed by the Judobund magazine as a Judo person – for dedication, endurance and hundreds of competitions across Germany and its neighboring countries.
Giesel/Fulda – The German Judo Association looked for and presented extraordinary “Judo people” for the judo magazine. Among them is Christian Krüger (25) from Gieseler from 1. JC Fulda. “This is a great recognition for us, as the judo magazine usually only reports on top athletes or on athletes who have achieved a special achievement – for example, one saved a life with a stem cell donation,” reports father Marco in an interview with the Fulda newspaper in the basement of the family home.
Judoka from Fulda portrayed for a renowned specialist magazine
Two things are particularly noticeable there that define the industrial mechanic's career so far: On one wall there is a large map of the Federal Republic, peppered with pins for every tournament location where Krüger has appeared on the mat so far. On the other wall there is a large display case containing countless medals, trophies and, among other things, a certificate for second dan.
A look at the map shows tournaments in the surrounding area as well as those in Berlin, Brandenburg, Bavaria or North Rhine-Westphalia – Krüger has already been to many of them. “In the years since Corona, more and more clubs have… Hesse stopped offering tournaments for the men's division. That’s why we sometimes travel to Schwerin, Berlin and other cities,” says Krüger.
In total, Christian has competed in 292 tournaments since he started judo in 2010. He and his father drove 46 of them over 400 kilometers and 38 over 300 kilometers one way. These long stretches became noticeable at some point. “In September last year, after Christian had qualified for the German individual championship, we arranged an interview with those responsible for the judo magazine at the Southwest German Individual Championships in Siershahn,” says Krüger Sr., looking back.
Father and son Krüger are repeatedly asked about articles
“We are often asked about the article at tournaments, as was recently the case in Speyer by a veteran. He had competed in more than 800 competitions in his career and said I could beat the record if I stuck with it like I was before,” remembers Christian.
In addition to numerous tournaments, the 25-year-old regularly competes successfully at the Southwest German Individual Championships has qualified for the German Individual Championship every year since 2019. “Not even the fighters in the Olympic squad have that many participations,” comments father Krüger. Of the 2,000 participants over the past seven years, perhaps only 25 to 50 took part multiple times, including big names Maximilian Heyder and Eduard Trippel.
“Many of those who won medals have now given up – we're still there, even if Christian never made it to the next round. We know many who didn't take part in the German race for exactly that reason. But we say: 'If you don't compete, you can't win,'” summarizes Krüger. It is also important to the family to always remain humble despite everything and not to lose the fun of sport.
Christian Krüger has already fought against the vice world champion
According to father Krüger, the two are often asked at tournaments how they managed to travel such long distances. “Many fighters are in the police, the Bundeswehr or come to championships and tournaments through university sports. Christian did his training quite normally after school. We are some of the few 'normal' workers,”
The large number of competitions also brings together some anecdotes, such as the parallels between Christian Krüger and the five-time German champion Maximilian Heyder. “When Heyder became German champion for the first time in the U17, the championship took place in Neuhof, and Christian was there as a runner. In 2019, the two fought against each other for Heyder's first men's title,” reports Krüger.
As his father reveals, Christian has so far competed with 22 German champions, 13 German runners-up and 15 third-place finishers as well as one runner-up world champion and has even fought against top 60 athletes from Iran and Mongolia. “If Fabian Kansy hadn't been a replacement in the squad at the Olympics in Paris, an Olympic champion would have been added. That's still missing,” he adds.
In the coming years, Christian Krüger will not have had enough. “This year I want to complete 300 tournaments and pass the exam for the third dan and the trainer C license,” he explains. On the sidelines of a tournament, he also agreed with a judoka to meet next at the Veterans World Cup in 2031.
