Liverpool legend Jurgen Klopp continues to enjoy his time out of the game. His most recent jaunt has been to the Paralympics, where he is supporting a friend who has an inspiring story .
When Klopp left Anfield , he pledged to take at least a year off , citing burnout He has not been short of offers since, with the USMNT reportedly keen on appointing him at one stage , but he has been true to his word.
His wife mandated that cooking and dance classes would be on the agenda during his time off from the game. But Klopp has also found time for Taylor Swift , tennis and now the Paralympics.
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Klopp is in Paris supporting friend Wojtek Czyz, while also raising the profile of the Games as a whole. The New Zealander is a former Paralympic long jump champion for Germany, but is now representing the Kiwis in badminton.
Czyz was soundly beaten by Team GB's Daniel Bethell in his opening encounter, losing 21-5, 21-2. But Klopp was full of admiration for his "inspiring" friend, who only took up badminton three years ago at the age of 41.
"He’s too crazy," Klopp said of his friend, via the Guardian . "We are completely different. He’s constantly doing things I’m not brave enough to do. He told me only yesterday how easy it is to dive with sharks and I said: ‘Yeah, I heard it now, I still don’t do it.
“How was it to watch him? Great, I enjoyed all five points [that he won in the first game]. He’s 44, by the way. I stood next to Elena [Brambilla-Czyz], his incredible wife, and we had tears in our eyes. I know sport is always about the result and winning, but there’s much more behind that story and being here is always so touching that I couldn’t get my head around it. It’s the most inspiring story I’ve ever heard."
Czyz is a former footballer, who at 21 sustained an injury which required his left leg to be amputated below the knee. Klopp first came across him when Mainz played Kaiserslauten in a charity friendly, in which Czyz played while sporting his prosthetic leg.
The pair later ran into each other by chance in Lisbon in 2015, shortly before Klopp came to Anfield. Czyz, looking for a new challenge after earning seven medals across long jump and sprinting, was introduced to sailing by the Liverpool boss-in-waiting.
Typically, he went all in, and he and his wife ended up navigating the globe on a catamaran. His program, "Sailing4Handicaps", also manufactured and distributed prosthetic limbs to people in developing countries.
Czyz is unsure whether he'll invite Klopp back, joking that he might be a bit of a curse. But the pair are united in their goal to raise the profile of the Paralympics, believing that para-sport deserves better access and support.
Liverpool.com says: Klopp was primarily out in Paris to support his friend, but he and Czyz are also championing a great cause. There's no particular reason why the Paralympics, and indeed para-sport at all levels, should enjoy a lower profile.
As Klopp points out, everything that makes people love sport applies to the Paralympics. He believes broadcasters might be missing a trick by not showing more of it.
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