Audi 2013 Annual Report Download - page 128

Raphael Holzdeppe comes across as very relaxed when we meet
him at the Olympic Training Center in Leverkusen. And ex-
tremely likeable. Although the 24-year-old from Kaiserslautern
would be more inclined to describe himself as laid back or
chilled. And he has every reason to do so. Not simply because
he became pole vault world champion on August 12, 2013 in
Moscow. But also because he has learned to deal with pressure
and with the high expectations riding on him. In 2008, he set
a junior world record of 5.80 meters at the age of 18. Things
didn’t go so smoothly in the wake of that achievement. Too
much pressure, too much partying and too little focus on the
sport. Holzdeppe recognized that. And turned things around.
His reward : Olympic bronze in London in 2012. And now the
first ever world championship gold for the German pole vaulting
team. He is the face of this unconventional extreme sport.
And a star in Germany. “My whole life suddenly exploded,”
he remarks with a laugh. But this isn’t just any flight of fancy.
He has matured into a true professional.
/FLIGHT OF FANCY? NOT HOLZDEPPE
Despite nursing an injury, Raphael Holzdeppe and his South
African trainer, Chauncey Johnson, are o to attend NetAachen
Domspringen, the final competition of the season. He has
promised to be there. As so often, the pair take to the road in
Holzdeppe’s A7 Sportback. This season they have made their
way across Europe, driving from competition to competition.
To Paris, Lausanne, Prague and Rome. Holzdeppe does the
driving. He loves the sensation of speed. And music – the system
is playing hip-hop. Today, they are transporting a precious cargo :
On the roof rack of the black A7 Sportback, Holzdeppe and
Johnson have fitted a long tube containing several carbon-fiber
poles belonging to the junior team. Each of those poles costs
anything up to 1,000 euros. They are one of the main success
factors. Their composition is a closely guarded secret known
only to the manufacturers.
/CARBON-FIBER CATAPULTS
Chauncey Johnson explains to us why that is so. The pole vault
is the only discipline where a piece of sports equipment
absorbs the energy of the athlete and then releases it again
so that the athlete can convert it into height. The composition
of the pole’s material is crucial. Raphael Holzdeppe catapults
himself over the bar using 5.15-meter-long carbon-fiber
poles with varying degrees of hardness. Or to be more precise,
he jumps with the aid of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer
comprising around 60 percent carbon fiber and smaller pro-
portions of glass fiber. “For a technically proficient jumper
like myself, carbon fiber makes more sense than glass fiber
because the poles are lighter, so the uncoiling is much more
explosive,” explains Holzdeppe.
PHOTOS : Steen Jänicke, AUDI AG
Fuel consumption and emission figures at the end of the Annual Report
PL AY HIGH
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