Former professional swimmer Franziska van Almsick (45) usually keeps her family out of the public eye. But now she has given a rare insight into her private life in an interview.
The two-time world champion has two sons with entrepreneur Jürgen B. Harder: Don Hugo (17) and Mo Vito (10). “Seeing them every day, how they grow and how they develop and how different they are! I can’t wait to see what happens in the next ten years. And the next 20 years,” the proud mother gushed Interview with “Bild”. “I used to be asked how I imagined life at 50, but that’s no longer important because now it’s no longer about me, but about my boys.”
And they’ve gotten pretty big now. When asked about the end of her career in 2004, she revealed: “At first I didn’t notice anything about these 20 years. The time went by so quickly. I only really noticed it when my eldest son shot over my head , with his 1.92 m.” She added: “When I stood next to him and had to look so high, I thought I was getting old.”
However, the popular sports icon doesn’t want to train her boys to become stars: “The most important thing for me is that my children are happy and that they do what they want and that makes them happy. I don’t put any pressure on them. If one of my sons If you want to do craft training, then you should do it. That’s cool and I’m happy to support you.” Her older son is “incredibly gifted” musically, while her younger son has inherited his mother’s enthusiasm for sports. However: “The pandemic period has really left its mark on my little one. He is sporty, but especially at the time when you are really involved in clubs, there was a phase where everything didn’t work. That already affected us. We’re working on it,” said Franziska van Almsick. Even though she doesn’t want to put pressure on her children to succeed, she admits in the interview: “But of course I always dreamed of sitting in a stadium at some point. But you don’t always get what you want.”
Speaking of wanting: The children should decide for themselves whether they want to go out in public. “Maybe they don’t need it. Maybe they do need it. At the end of the day they’ll be 18 and know what they want,” emphasized “Gold-Franzi”, who won four medals at the Olympic Games at the tender age of 14 in Barcelona in 1992 and became a sports star. At the moment she is “actually enjoying the fact that my children are crossing the street unrecognized and leading their own lives.”
So it is unlikely that van Almsick will appear at her next big appearance accompanied by her sons. Instead, on Saturday evening (February 17th) you will see her in the middle of her other “family”: as Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Sporthilfe, she is inviting people to the “Ball des Sports” in Frankfurt. “I love it. For me, the ball is always a big family gathering. There is no nicer event for me all year,” reveals van Almsick.
For her, it’s also an opportunity to swap her mom look for a chic evening gown. She explained to RTL that she chooses her outfit at very short notice: “This year it will probably be either blue, red or petrol. I haven’t decided yet.” She is a “total emotional person” and makes decisions spontaneously. “If I choose a color – for example pink, but notice when I get up in the morning that I don’t feel like pink, then I have to be able to switch.” After all, there is “nothing worse than wearing a color that you really shouldn’t be wearing.” At least she has enough choice: As she further revealed, she can choose between four dresses.
