Alina Heinemann is 23 years old, studies materials and technical design at Ostfalia and was able to fulfil a dream at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games: Her first competition at international level.
In order to combine competitive sport with everyday university life, Alina commutes from Schulenrode to Wolfsburg every day and from there on to Hanover for training at the state training centre. She has been doing apparatus gymnastics since she was five years old. She competes in the 1st national league for KTG Hannover and has already taken part in four German championships. She is also a member of the "Feuerwerk der Turnkunst" show team and is going on tour with Europe's most successful gymnastics show for the third time in 2026.
But this year also had a special highlight in store for Alina: Together with Aiyu Zhu (Cologne), Elena Engelhardt (Munich), Nele Rüping (Stuttgart) and Emma Malewski (Chemnitz), she was nominated for the German Team-Studi at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games. From 16 to 27 July, around 8,500 student athletes from over 150 countries came together to compete in 18 different sports. As Nele Rüping was injured during podium training before the competition, Alina and her team had to compete on three apparatus without a string. In the team final, they achieved 15th place out of a total of 21 teams. In the qualification for the all-around competition, Alina was the best German gymnast in 39th place out of 66 gymnasts with 47.6 points.
"As there were many well-known and experienced national gymnasts among them, I am satisfied with the exercises I performed and the result. It was a great honour for me to represent Germany with Team Studi at the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games. Even the opening ceremony was a highlight for me, as it was very emotional to walk into the sold-out stadium in Duisburg with the German delegation. It was generally a lot of fun to socialise with athletes from other sports and nations and we also had the opportunity to watch other sports at this big event. The atmosphere at the competition in front of the home crowd was incredible and I tried to savour every moment. I was also very happy that my family and friends were able to watch the competition and support me. I was able to gain a lot of positive experiences and it was a unique and great experience to take part in this event," says Alina.
