HERDER Philipp

General
BREAK FROM GYMNASTICS
In 2011 he had surgery on his neck, removing a disc and replacing it with two fused vertebrae. He said he had given up on continuing the sport. His trainer convinced him to return to the gym and he took part in the 2014 World Championships in Nanning, People's Republic of China. "At first I was afraid that it would lead to paraplegia, because I could not move. In my head, I had finished. I abandoned the sport." (taz.de, 23 Jul 2019)

ALTERNATE IN RIO
He was an alternate for the German team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I was able to experience everything with the team, but I missed out on competing. At the next Olympic Games I want to be competing. That is my biggest dream." (hauptstadtsport.tv, 08 Oct 2016)

NOT ABOUT WINNING
He says he competes in gymnastics to improve and feel good, not to win. "I'm not in gymnastics for winning. When doing gymnastics, the smallest details are needed to make complicated and spectacular exercises possible. If it comes off, that's a fantastic feeling. Actually, all I care about is getting better and getting that feeling. What also makes the sport so attractive is the range of movement patterns. I could never imagine being a [track and field] athlete or a swimmer and monotonously running or swimming laps." (tagesspiegel.de, 12 Jul 2019)