Miryam Roper

Road to Tokyo 2021 - "Do what's never been done before". That's my motto to achieve my big goal of winning a medal at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

You can't., you're too young, too old, too tall, too, short, too fat, too skinny, too .... whatever, to do that. Who hasn't heard these rather sobering words in their life? But just because I don't fit into the prefabricated concept, don't meet the ideal measurements, don't have potential according to the statistics, just because no one who is like me on paper has done it before, doesn't mean I won't be the first to do it after all. This is my story. 

When I was 14 years old and really followed the Olympic Games for the first time, I decided that one day I would be an Olympian too. Growing up in a small village in the Rhineland far away from Olympic centres and sports schools, it took me about 2.5h by bus and train to get to training. Accordingly, I didn't have the opportunity to train twice a day like my peers until the end of my school years, which of course was reflected in my performances. Although I was able to win a few medals nationally and internationally, I did not make it to the youth or junior national team. 

Nevertheless, I decided to pursue my dream and moved to Cologne, where I live at the national base. However, I had to juggle university, training and various side jobs (waitressing, selling ice cream or bread rolls, promoting running shoes, hostess and trade fair jobs, etc.), as I also had to help finance my living. Step by step my performance improved, but time was my biggest opponent. After all, acceptance into the national team was only possible up to the age of 23. After that, they didn't see enough potential for development. But my training backlog was huge and the triple burden had its price. Although I was able to draw attention to myself again and again with medals, my performances were not steady enough for the federation to promote me and so I celebrated my 23rd birthday with the stale aftertaste that I might be too old. I felt this was unfair, because I was beating world-class athletes and had also collected more medals than athletes from the national team who were only younger, but not more successful. It was at this point that I first thought about competing for my home country, Panamá. However, this proved to be impossible due to the lack of sports infrastructure and communication channels at that time without facebook, whatsapp, etc. So I had no choice but to decide in favour of Panamá. So I had no other choice but to continue to fight my way through.

In 2007, when I was almost 25, I was called up to the national team and won a medal at one of the most important world tournaments. In 2008, however, I suffered a setback: I injured my shoulder at the World Team Championships, had to have two operations and was out of action for a year. In retrospect, this injury was perhaps avoidable, but still good. Painfully, my eyes were opened to the fact that for my goal, the Olympic Games, I really had to align my life completely with it and that I still had a lot to professionalise. On the one hand, my living conditions, on the other hand, how I deal with my diet. In a sport with weight categories, a healthy and conscious diet is crucial. But as a sweet tooth and lover of good food, I then lost up to 6kg in one week at the last minute, which of course was anything but healthy and sensible. I then completely changed my diet, and for 1 year sweets, bread, pasta and especially all the light products were taboo. Today I eat sweets and bread again from time to time, but I have banned sweeteners forever.

Professionalising my life, on the other hand, was not so easy. To be able to really concentrate on sport, I needed financial security. The German sports system only allowed one institution as a possibility: the Bundeswehr's sports support group. Being a pacifist with a great aversion to war and weapons, I not only had to act against my convictions, but large parts of my environment, friends and family also advised me against this step. I had to break off my studies to do so, because at that time the German Armed Forces did not yet allow top athletes sponsored by them to study. But I was convinced of myself and my potential, even though the statistics were against me, that I could still become an Olympic athlete at 30. I was equally aware that I would only be able to compete at world level if I was financially independent. Of course, this meant that my career prospects after my sporting career were diminished. But I had to put all my eggs in one basket, "No risks, no glory." Not doing it and regretting it later and always asking what would have been if I had followed my heart, I didn't want to. On 01.01.2010, I joined the German Armed Forces. Yes, it was hard at many moments, but I didn't regret it and I am very grateful to the Bundeswehr for the support. Because it was only thanks to this support that I was able to achieve my goals and celebrate many successes. Among others:

World Championships fifth in 2011, European Championships third and Olympian in 2012, World Championships third and world number one in 2013, European Championships runner-up in 2014, European Championships third in 2015 and Olympian in 2016.

Unfortunately, I did not manage to win an Olympic medal at either the London 2012 or Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games. Both times I failed in the first round against the 2013 World Champion and 2016 Olympic Champion from Brazil, Rafaela Silva. It was hard and the pain was deep. Nevertheless, I didn't want to end my career like that, once again in 2017 I wanted to be at the top of the World Championships. That was my long-term plan. But unfortunately the federation saw it differently. After the Olympic Games, there was going to be a big upheaval. I wanted to face the tough competition with the young, up-and-coming talents again and compete in the World Championships as the German number one. Things turned out differently. The new national coach informed me that I was no longer part of the national team next year.

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