Marburg, 02.07.2011 (yb)  This story is about Laura, who started at the age of six doing children’s gymnastics. It quickly became clear that this little girl had particular potential for gymnastic activities. So she moved from the local children’s gymnastics to a sport club in a neighboring town. In the course of a year it became clear that Laura had far more talent than could be realized under the present conditions. 

Friends of Laura already did wheel gymnastics (in German language also called Rhönrad) at TSV Marburg Ockershausen. In the sports section of the local newspaper there had been articles of Rhönrad, even those with photos, friends had told Laura.
„Ooh, I also would like to be in the newspaper,“ thought Laura and reported that 15 years later in a talk with the editors. So, at the age of nine Laura wanted to go train in wheel gymnastics together with her friends.

If only that would have been possible. She had trained a lot and was a good gymnast. However, that was not the problem. Back then Laura was a little girl. In the sport club there was no wheel her size which she could have used to train. The large round gymnastic wheel with the two jacketed plastic hoops made out of steel were all too big for her.

„The coach said to me, I should come back when I have grown a little,“ Laura reports from her first and disappointing attempt to start wheel gymnastics. After a year, Laura finally started to train in wheel gymnastics at the sport club TSV Marburg-Ockershausen. 

For that reason she stopped doing the usual gymnastics.

So now, the start of Laura’s career as a wheel gymnast dates back 14 years. She has gone a long way in that time. Four weeks ago, for the second time, Laura Stullich became three times world champion, 2005 being the first time.



Rhönrad developed to something different than before, with the usual gymnastics, the newly crowned world champion reports. Training four times a week and competitions in other cities had her traveling a lot. In 1999 at the age of 12 Laura qualified for the German championships and made 12th place. In 2000 she became vice German champion and one year later Laura Stullich won the German championships and brought the title home to Marburg and her sports club.
In 2003 Laura continued her career, she became world-vice champion which was the next stop in the inexorable path of Laura with the big wheel. For a long time now she has had her own wheel, tailored to her body size.

At the age of 18 Laura Stullich became four times world champion in the Belgian town Büttgenbach. She won the title in the discipline straight-line, spiral and vault and also the all-around title. That was in 2005. After passing the school-leaving examination the questions arose: What will happen now? Go abroad? Yes, but as an Au pair? Actually you can do more, said the world champion in wheel gymnastics.

On the internet she found the circus school Juventas in St. Paul, Minnesota in the United States. She got a working visa and an annual contract. She worked as a coach at Circus Juventas while performing shows at the same time. In the USA the Rhönrad is named German Wheel due to its German origin. 

Circus Juventas was the perfect location to work as a coach and artist for one year. However, after one year of work Laura thought that she wanted more. Studying in the English language, related to traveling and management, would be good.
„Everybody studied business administration in Germany, I wanted to do something different,“ says the likeable and confident world champion. 

At the University of Applied Sciences in Breda, a city with 160,000 inhabitants close to Rotterdam, she studied International Tourism Management. In total Laura studied seven semesters, one of them she spent as an exchange student in Thessaloniki in Greece. Meanwhile, she got her Bachelor of Business Administration in Tourism Management.

At the end of her studies, the world championships took place in Arnsberg in the Germans Sauerland region. As a qualification she performed at the Southern German championship and the German championships, where she won the gold medal in the discipline straight-line. As a result Laura Stullich was qualified for the world championships.

She began her intensive preparation in January 2011 in Marburg. After four months of training she left to compete in Arnsberg. From 16 countries 120 wheel gymnasts were traveling to the Sauerland region to find out who are the worlds best with the German Wheel, in Germany still named Rhönrad. 

Between 1-4 June 2011 once again Laura Stullich was able to show her talents. Again she became world champion in straight-line, world-vice champion in spiral, world champion in all-around and also won the gold medal in the team competition. This happened some weeks ago and once again the newspapers reported it.

Meanwhile, she has booked an airline ticket. The trip goes to the U.S., back to St. Paul, where Laura is hired as an artist and a coach for the summer. The German Wheel will be in her luggage. The wheel can be taken apart into four pieces which makes it possible to travel with it.
How Laura teaches Americans the German Wheel, how the world champion performs as an artist on the stage and what she is planning to do afterwards will be reported in das Marburger.